Photo: Scott Olson / Getty Images
For: Real America News Updated 28 Apr 2022, 000: 31 pm EDT
Three Florida prison officials were arrested following the beating death of an inmate in February in Dade Correctional Institution, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
The officers were taken into custody at a Miami-Dade jail Thursday afternoon
, two months after inmate Ronald Gene Ingram, of 60 years old, was discovered dead inside a prison transport van.
Officers at the Dade Correctional Institution have been identified as Ronald Connor, Christopher Rolon and Kirk Walto. A fourth officer who has not yet been arrested is also expected to be charged in the inmate’s death.
The three prison guards face charges of various crimes, including second degree murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault of an elderly adult and cruel treatment of a arrested, jail records show.
FDLE indicated that prior to being removed from his cell in the mental health unit, inmate Ronald Gene Ingram threw urine on an officer. He was subsequently handcuffed and, despite the fact that he obeyed the orders he received, agents informed the authorities that the three accused officers began to beat him before taking him to the transport van.
On the way to the destination correctional center, the vehicle made a stop during which the inmate was found dead inside the van.
The medical examiner determined that death was caused by a punctured lung that caused internal bleeding. In addition, the inmate had injuries to his face and torso consistent with a beating.
“What happened in this case is completely unacceptable and it is a representation of our system or the Dade Correctional Institution as a whole,” Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon said in a statement Thursday. “The staff involved in this case failed and as an agency we will not tolerate this.”
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle , said inmates have lost their “liberty but not their basic rights” and should not be subjected to “‘alley’ forms of justice.”
The FDC is the third largest state prison system in the country, with some 80,000 inmates, and is the largest agency in Florida, with 24,04 employees.
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