An inmate whose temperature reached 42C "baked" to death in a cell that was "hotter than three hells."
Thomas Lee Rutledge, 44, was found dead on December 7, 2020 at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility mental heath ward in Bessemer, Alabama after temperatures in the room reached between 101 (38C) and 104 (40C) degrees, according to a coroner's report.
Inmates had previously expressed their concern of the extreme temperatures in the cells but were ignored and told to stay in their rooms "around the clock, including for eating and bathing."
Rutledge's family have launched a lawsuit against the facility accusing staff of deliberately causing his death.
According to Clark Hopper, an investigator on site, he went into the inmates cell around 8pm when he opened the door and claimed it was like "opening an oven."
He told CBS: "When he dropped his... meal door... it was hotter than three hells when it dropped."
Hopper went to check on Rutledge after being told by another inmate the prisoner was unresponsive.
The correction facility had installed new air condition units in 2019 and 2020 but in a lawsuit launched by Rutledge's sister it is claimed the mental health ward T unit, where he was staying, wasn't part of the new updates and the air conditioning controls were "tampered with."
In addition, the lawsuit also claims a week before the inmate died prisoners were told to stay in their cells and "attempted to limit the heat output in their cells by stuffing clothing in vents to reduce the heat output."
Rutledge , at the time of his death, was taking medication which could have increased the probability of him getting ill from the heat.
Staff were meant to check temperatures in the cells didn't rise above 85 degrees (29C) but failed to check on Rutledge on the day his body reached 109 degrees (42C).
Christie Sansing, G. Griffin and J. Rodgers were supervising the 96 inmates in the T Unit on the day the prisoner was found dead.
Bill Kennedy, a maintenance supervisor at the prison, allegedly discovered the air conditioning controls for the T unit had been destroyed.
However, it is claimed in the lawsuit he ignored his finding - which led the system to reach 130 degrees (54C).
He has denied any accusations he intentionally harmed the inmate.
Rutledge was convicted of murder in 1993 after shooting dead Kevin Edwards and Radshaw Whitman. He has been in prison since he was 17-years-old.
He was jailed for life without the possibility of parole until the Supreme Court ruled the sentencing for juveniles was unconstitutional.
The lawsuit said: "He had dreams of obtaining his freedom, joining his mother in Alaska, and starting a new and productive life."
