On April 17, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) released news of the first COVID-19 related death of an incarcerated person in a state facility. Dave Thomas was his name, and he was a 66 year old man who, according to the press release, was known to have a pre-existing medical condition.
This death was what our coalition feared when we called on ADOC over a month ago to begin taking precautions to protect the health and safety of people in Alabama’s jails and prisons, specifically people like Dave Thomas who are most at risk of suffering serious complications and death from contracting COVID-19. According to a recent SPLC report, there are nearly 400 other people like Dave, who are 65 and older and have already served more than 30 years.
