Family files federal lawsuit against Alabama Department of Corrections over inmate’s death [Video]

Video above: Previous coverageThe family of a Jefferson County man who died the day he was to be released from prison last year has filed a federal lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections, claiming officials failed to keep him safe. Daniel Williams was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to assault and theft charges.Court documents show he spent some of his sentence in two other prisons before ultimately landing in Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore.The lawsuit claims that three weeks before he was set to be released, Williams was “held hostage” by fellow inmate Lamont Wilson, “brutally tortured,” “forced to consume drugs against his will” and sexually assaulted for at least two days until he slipped out of consciousness on Oct. 19, 2023, and was found in Wilson’s bed. Williams was later taken to a prison medical facility and died on Nov. 9, the day he …