BESSEMER, Ala. (WIAT) — The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office reports that one inmate at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer died after being stabbed while another was found dead in the prison infirmary, all within 24 hours of each other.
At 4:27 p.m. Wednesday, a report came in about a 41-year-old inmate who had been stabbed. At 5:23 p.m., he was pronounced dead. The inmate, whose name had not been publicly released as of Thursday morning, was serving a life sentence at Donaldson for a 2002 murder conviction out of Jefferson County.
At 4:20 a.m. Thursday, a 68-year-old inmate was found unresponsive in the prison infirmary, where he had been housed for an undisclosed time due to being treated for a “significant natural disease,” the coroner’s office reports. At 4:43 a.m., the inmate was pronounced dead with his death being attributed to natural causes. The inmate, whose name has also not been released, had been serving a life sentence for a 1984 murder conviction out of Cullman County.
Two other deaths had been previously reported earlier this month, one reportedly from “natural causes” and another from a “medical illness.” The last homicide to be reported at Donaldson was March 1, when William Eric Jennings, 49, died from “blunt force trauma.”
Both deaths are being investigated by the Alabama Department of Corrections.
