On Sunday, two men in two separate Alabama correctional facilities attempted suicide, sources close to the incidents say.
One of the men, 34-year-old Steven Craig Seay, was found unresponsive in his cell at St. Clair Correctional Facility and was unable to be resuscitated by medical staff and pronounced dead by the attending physician, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) confirmed to APR.
The other individual was found injured in his cell at Donaldson Correctional Facility but survived. The man was transferred to the facility’s medical unit and then to an area hospital for more treatment. APR is not disclosing the individual’s identity.
ADOC would not say whether Seay’s death or the other individual’s incident were caused by suicide. “Cause of death is pending the results of the autopsy and the Law Enforcement Services Division (LESD) investigation,” the ADOC said.
Both incidents spotlight the lack of infrastructure and care to protect incarcerated individuals. In 2017, a federal judge ruled that Alabama’s prisons were “horrendously inadequate” in providing mental health care.
Seay’s death marks at least 56 people who have died inside ADOC prisons this year. That number is likely an undercount
