Prison inmate died after fight with officers, records show

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According to records, an inmate at Fishkill Correctional Facility in New York died after a fight with multiple officers.

On April 21, inmate Samuel Harrell, who has a history of bipolar disorder linked to erratic behavior, packed his bags and announced he was leaving to go home, despite having not yet finished serving his sentence. Harrell was imprisoned on a felony drug charge with September 2020 being his earliest release date.

Harrell ran into several officers at the medium-security prison, and in the confrontation that followed, at least 20 officers became involved. According to several inmate witnesses, the officers included members of the so-called “Beat Up Squad,” and several of them were even shouting racial slurs at Harrell during the physical altercation.

The New York Times put together a timeline of the day Harrell died from 19 affidavits and letters written by inmates and obtained through the law firm representing Harrell’s family.

“Like he was a trampoline, they were jumping on him,” Edwin Pearson, an inmate, said, reports the NYT.

Another inmate described seeing Harrell at the bottom of the stairs “bent in an impossible position,” after being either dragged or thrown down the stairs.

“His eyes were open,” the inmate wrote, “but they weren’t looking at anything.”

An ambulance was called for Harrell, but no mention of the fight was made, with officers telling medical personnel that Harrell had likely suffered an overdose of a synthetic marijuana called K2. Harrell was pronounced dead at the hospital later that night.

Since then, an autopsy has been conducted, and no illicit drugs were found in Harrell’s system, leading the cause of death to be determined to be cardiac arrhythmia “following physical altercation with corrections officers.” The manner of death listed: homicide.

Although several inmates’ statements have identified some of the officers, their names have not yet been confirmed by the corrections department or union officials. What’s more, several inmates say they were threatened and told to keep their mouths shut about what they had seen.

“He then told me, ‘You better forget what you saw here if you ever want to make it home,’” an inmate said in the affidavit.

The investigation is still going, but on Monday, James Miller, a spokesman for the corrections officers’ union, released this statement:

Rather than simply relying on allegations made by a handful of violent convicted felons, we will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to ensure a resolution to this tragic incident.

Find out more details of this story on the New York Times.