A n autopsy report released Sept. 25 said 53-year-old inmate Michael Anthony Kerr died of thirst. State prison officials have said little about Kerr’s treatment in the events leading up to his death March 12 of this year, treating the death as an occupational oversight.
In order for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to truly demonstrate its commitment to human rights, it should be held criminally accountable for Kerr’s death and should reconsider its use of solitary confinement.
Kerr was found unresponsive in the back of a van while in transit to a mental hospital at Central Prison in Raleigh.
On Feb. 5, Kerr was committed to solitary confinement for 35 days, according to public records released to the Associated Press.
Dr. Lauren Scott, who created the autopsy report, claims an internal review of the incident ignored critical concerns such as the inmate’s access to food and water, according to The New York Times.
With such a lack of information, the public is free to infer. On two occasions, Feb. 21 and Feb. 24, Kerr was cited for flooding his cell. On Feb. 25, Kerr was committed to “disciplinary segregation.” It is the state’s policy that the misuse of plumbing facilities authorizes officers to cut off water to the inmate’s cell. It is not clear if this was the cause of Kerr’s death.
