The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed on Wednesday the death of an incarcerated individual at Donaldson Correctional Facility.
Eddie Robertson Jr, a 71-year-old incarcerated man in the Jefferson County facility, was pronounced dead on Tuesday after being found unresponsive in the infirmary by medical staff, according to the coroner’s office.
Robertson’s death is believed to be of natural causes, the coroner’s office said on Wednesday.
As with all cases of death within the state prison system, the Alabama Department of Corrections’ Law Enforcement Services Division is investigating the surrounding circumstances of Robertson’s death.
With Robertson’s death, at least 14 individuals have died in state prison facilities over the last two and a half weeks.
The names of the deceased include Justin W. Hopkins, 39; Willie A. McCall, 67; Cameron Holifield, 22; Grady Anthony Lee Jr, 44; Barry Christopher Culver, 25; Albert Jackson Sorrells, 57; Jimmy R. Hurst, 89; Jason P. Hopkins, 36; and Joseph Edward Nichols, 46; and Tycia Leon Marshall, 41; Christopher Oneal Heit, 35; Anthony Dewayne Ford, 45; and Gregory Marcus Snow, 25.
A recent report by Alabama Appleseed showed that older and elderly incarcerated individuals, who previously were a minuscule group within the state prison system, are now a significant cohort number at over 6,750 incarcerated individuals. By the end of the 20th century, the state incarcerated only 85 individuals over the age of 60 in state prison facilities. The state now imprisons 2,393 individuals, according to the study.
