Second Walker Co. Jail correctional officer agrees to plead guilty in connection to Tony Mitchell’s death

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - A second correctional officer has agreed to plead guilty to a federal change in connection with the in-custody death of Anthony “Tony” Mitchell in the Walker County County Jail in January 2023.

Karen Kelly will plead guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law, according to federal court filings.

Kelly is the same officer who also leaked surveillance video of Mitchell in custody. She was fired shortly after Mitchell’s death and filed a federal lawsuit against Sheriff Nick Smith and others within the department.

Kelly’s attorney, Brett Bloomston, told WBRC, “My client has accepted full responsibility for her minimal role in this tragic death. The culture of the Walker county jail was such that she could do little to help this inmate without fear of reprisal. She sincerely hopes that this tragedy leads to new policies and procedures to protect those who are housed in the jail.”

Joshua Conner Jones, also a former Walker County correctional officer, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and deprivation of rights under the color of law.

Mitchell was arrested on Jan. 12, 2023 after Walker County Sheriff deputies responded to a mental health call which escalated, according to the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, with Mitchell shooting at deputies.

Kelly worked the nightshift at the jail for 7 of the 15 nights Mitchell was housed at the Walker County Jail, including as shift supervisor. Just as Jones reported to federal authorities, Kelly said Mitchell was kept in a cell with only a drain in the floor and was mostly housed “naked, without a mat or blanket, left to lie on the cold, bare, cement floor.”

Kelly said she was told by two unnamed lieutenants that Mitchell was being kept in that cell by the Jail’s command staff because he was on suicide watch, according to the federal plea agreement. Kelly said she never saw any documentation reflecting Mitchell was on suicide watch and told federal investigators that Mitchell was not treated as other inmates on suicide watch were treated, and never demonstrated any signs of self-harm of suicidal ideation.

According to the plea agreement, Kelly said one of the unnamed lieutenants told her the nurse practitioner “ceded her authority to determine who should be on or off suicide watch to the command staff which was against jail protocol as she understood it. She never saw jail staff take any actions directed at protection [Mitchell] from self-harm, such as providing him mental health treatment.”

Kelly told federal investigators that she was “berated” by one of the unnamed lieutenants after arranging for Mitchell’s cell to be cleaned of garbage, old food, and feces. That same lieutenant told Kelly, according to court documents, that Mitchell was “combative” but she never witnessed that. Instead, Kelly said Mitchell became “obviously weaker physically, appearing frail as days wore on.”

She continued describing Mitchell as, “barely communicative, appeared not to be lucid much of the time, and appeared to be suffering from significant mental illness even to those without medical or mental health training.”

Kelly told federal investigators that she asked the second unnamed lieutenant twice whether steps could be taken to get Mitchell a blanket or mat and said she was told “command staff insisted Mitchell remain under those conditions.”

She said she was not permitted to give Mitchell a towel on the “rare” occasions he was provided a shower.

Kelly told federal investigators that she believed the jail command staff was purposefully keeping Mitchell in “inhumane” conditions but “did not express her concerns to anyone other than her immediate supervisor even after they were ignored.”

Kelly said she feared retaliation because of the “culture of the jail” and did not take reasonable steps to alert the proper authorities.

“Instead, she sought to avoid scrutiny from jail supervisors to remained employed there by failing to raise alarms about [Mitchell’s] deterioration and exposure to inhumane conditions,” according to the plea agreement.

Mitchell died on Jan. 26, 2023. His death has been ruled a homicide. There have been no arrests yet in his death.

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