The former Walker County corrections officer charged in the death of an inmate who died of hypothermia and sepsis will plead guilty in federal court.
Joshua Conner Jones agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights.
Inmate Tony Mitchell died on Jan. 26, 2023, with a body temperature of 72 degrees. Court documents state Mitchell had been in jail for two weeks after shooting at a deputy. The plea agreement states that he was barely responding to officers in the jail who found him wet, cold and covered in feces on the floor.
There were originally allegations the inmate was put in a freezer, but no evidence presented has suggested that was the case.
The plea agreement states there were five co-conspirators connected to Mitchell's death. More defendants could be charged in the death.
A second rights-deprivation charge Jones will plead guilty to is related to the mistreatment of another inmate.
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