Former Walker Co. jailer says he used Tony Mitchell’s conditions to try to get raise, agrees to plead guilty

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - A former correctional officer for the Walker County Jail admitted in a federal plea agreement that he and others intentionally kept the cell of an inmate who later died while in custody “as filthy as possible” to show a Walker County Commissioner how “crazy” and “disgusting” some inmates were to try to convince the commission that jailers needed more pay.

Benjamin Shoemaker is the ninth former jail employee to agree to plead guilty to federal charges in connection to Tony Mitchell’s death.

Mitchell died on Jan. 26, 2023, two weeks after Walker County Sheriff deputies took him into custody following a mental health welfare check at his house. Mitchell was in the front yard, and fired at deputies when they arrived, according to a Walker County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) spokesman at the time.

Shoemaker is agreeing to plead guilty to conspiracy against rights and two counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law.

Shoemaker was a lieutenant at the time of Mitchell’s arrest, and told federal investigators he was one of the first officers to see Mitchell when he was booked into jail.

Mitchell was described as “disoriented, non-combative, and could not follow instructions” and “sufficiently helpless that he was not capable of undressing or dressing himself.”

Mitchell was taken to the medical unit, but according to the plea agreement, the Health Services Administrator (HSA) told the officers that “she wanted to wait”, following instructions by someone identified as Co-Conspirator #1.

Co-Conspirator #1 was not typically involved in whether detainees received evaluations, according to the plea agreement, and Shoemaker told federal investigators these evaluations were never denied.

Shoemaker asked Co-Conspirator #1 about why Mitchell was being treated differently and was given a non-responsive answer, according to federal records, which Shoemaker understood as “Co-Conspirator #1 did not want [Mitchell] to receive medical treatment, either to punish him for what [Mitchell] was accused of doing that prompted his arrest or to hide anything that might have been done to [Mitchell] by those who arrested him.”

Shoemaker told federal investigators his understanding was confirmed when he was told to treat Mitchell as if he were on suicide watch, and that “Co-Conspirator #1 used the phrase ‘suicide watch’ as a short-hand instruction for maintaining [Mitchell] in cruel conditions.”

Like other former officers who have agreed to plead guilty in this investigation, Shoemaker told federal agents that he made no efforts to care for [Mitchell]’s medical needs, and “falsely told medical staff that [Mitchell] was ‘too combative to be evaluated.’”

Shoemaker also admitted to “routinely repeat the falsehood that [Mitchell] was ‘too combative’ to receive services or be moved from BK5 with the effect that [Mitchell’s] cruel conditions of confinement would persist.”

BK5 is a concrete cell with no toilet, shower, running water, or raised platform for bed, according to federal court records.

Mitchell was “almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket,” and “by the second week of incarceration… was largely listless and mostly unresponsive to questions from officers.”

Shoemaker said he was “occasionally approached” by some correctional officers who asked about changing the conditions of [Mitchell’s] confinement, and at one point “wondered if the treatment of [Mitchell] had gone too far.”

Shoemaker asked Co-Conspirator #1 if Mitchell should be taken to a mental health hospital, according to the plea agreement, but when Co-Conspirator #1 refused to take any action, “Shoemaker decided that he was ‘not going to go out of his way’ to help [Mitchell}.”

Shoemaker admits he and Co-Conspirator #1 then “planned to use their harsh treatment of [Mitchell] for their personal gain.”

Two days before Mitchell’s death, a Walker County Commissioner planned to tour the jail to see working conditions for the officers. Shoemaker and others who wanted the commission to increase their pay, according to the plea agreement, intended to use Mitchell to show how “crazy” and “disgusting” some detainees were, “and the amount of management the detainees required.”

Shoemaker told federal investigators he and others “intentionally left [Mitchell’s] cell as filthy as possible so Co-conspirator #1 and defendant Shoemaker could use [Mitchell] and his cell as a prop” to show the commissioner, but the plan was changed when someone not aware of the plan cleaned Mitchell’s cell prior to the commissioner’s visit.

“Consequently, he adjusted their plan by convincing a different detainee in the jail’s booking area to act ‘crazy’ when the county commission visited,” and Shoemaker rewarded the detainee with a pack of honey buns after the performance.

Early the morning of Mitchell’s death, Shoemaker was contacted by another officer twice and told the nurse practitioner he ordered Mitchell be taken to the hospital as soon as possible.

“In response to the second effort by those officers… Shoemaker replied: ‘I’ll tell you what, next time you’re on the toilet taking a (expletive), I’ll call to bother you with something unimportant,’ or words to that effect.”

Shoemaker told federal investigators that he contacted Co-Conspirator #1 about the plan to transport Mitchell, “concerted that if [he] was sent out of the jail, the abuse of [him] might come to light.”

Co-Conspirator #1 told Shoemaker not to send Mitchell to this hospital, and that she was sending another officer to the jail with protein shakes for Mitchell, according to the federal plea agreement. Mitchell was unable to drink shakes, according to Shoemaker and told investigators “he had never seen a detainee that a nurse ordered to the hospital be given a protein drink instead.”

Shoemaker said Co-Conspirator #1 delayed sending Mitchell to this hospital again by not calling an ambulance for transport, but a transport officer who lived “a good distance” from the jail.

Mitchell was finally transported to the hospital more than three hours after the nurse’s instructions were shared with Shoemaker, according to federal court documents.

Mitchell suffered cardiac arrest when he arrived at the hospital, according to investigators, and his core body temperature was 72 degrees Fahrenheit. His autopsy revealed Mitchell’s cause of death was hypothermia with sepsis as a contributing factor, and his manner of death was determined to be a homicide.

Shoemaker also admits in federal court records to assaulting two other inmates at the Walker County Jail. The first assault happened in November 2022, according to court records, when Shoemaker said he and others beat an inmate who escaped from jail, placing him in a headlock while “he and several others correction officers punched Individual #2 several times while he was handcuffed and restrained.”

Later the night of the assault, Shoemaker said he was publicly praised during a meeting by jail administrators and “was singled out as a role model with blood on his clothes.” Shoemaker said correctional officers were encouraged during this meeting to physically abuse inmates and “as a reward for his actions, jail administrators offered Shoemaker a promotion to lieutenant, which he took.”

Shoemaker said he intended to stop working at the jail prior to the incident, but stayed because of the promotion.

He described to federal investigators a culture that encouraged physical punishment of inmates, to the point of bragging and laughing about use of force, and recording security video footage of these assaults to later show to other officers “where they would mock the detainees who got beaten.”

The second assault happened on Jan. 12, 2023, the same day of Mitchell’s arrest. Shoemaker said he and other officers were called to help with a pre-trial detainee who was not complying with an order to be moved from his cell. According to the plea agreement, Shoemaker and others tackled the detainee and dragged him down a set of stairs. Once he was handcuffed and placed in a restraint chair, Shoemaker admitted to repeatedly punching the man in the head and stomach.

He acknowledged “the force used against [this detainee] was unnecessary, excessive, and had no legitimate law enforcement purpose.”

An attorney representing the Walker County Sheriff’s Office told WBRC 6 News, “Without seeing the plea and the inducements made to give the purported plea and colloquy, I have no comment.”

WBRC also reached out to Shoemaker’s attorney and the Walker County Sheriff for comment. This story will be updated with their comments when and if they respond.

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