Three Florida correctional officers have been charged with murder in connection to the death of an inmate.
The officers, Christopher Rolon, 29, Kirk Walton, 34, and Ronald Connor, 24, were arrested after an inmate at Dade Correctional Institution was found dead with injuries to his face and torso that were “consistent with a beating” in February, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Thursday.
“Staff misconduct, abuse, or criminal behavior have no place in Florida’s correctional system,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said. “Individuals who are sentenced to incarceration by our criminal courts have lost their freedom but not their basic rights. Inmates should not be subject to forms of ‘back alley’ justice, which are actions in violation of Florida law.”
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The incident occurred on Feb. 14 during a scheduled transfer to Lake Correctional Institution, when the inmate threw urine on an officer prior to removal from his cell in the mental health unit, the statement said. Correctional officers placed him in handcuffs, and he was “compliant with officer commands,” but the officers began to beat him “so badly he had to be carried to the transport van,” authorities said.
On the way to the correctional facility, officers made a stop in Ocala, where the inmate was found dead lying on a bench inside the van, officials said.
The inmate’s cause of death was a punctured lung, which led to internal bleeding, the medical examiner’s office ruled.
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The incident spurred a monthslong investigation by authorities, who so far have conducted more than 45 interviews and 77 investigative reports.
One of the three accused correctional officers remains at large, authorities said.
