Mustafa Jackson Autopsy Shows Painful Death At Delco Prison

Mustafa Jackson Autopsy Shows Painful Death At Delco Prison — The autopsy of Mustafa Jackson is finally public thanks to the persistence of Broad + Liberty, and why the Dem-run Delaware County (Pa.) Council didn’t want this is quite clear.

Jackson, a 25-year-old paraplegic, was found dead in his cell at George Hill Correctional Facility on Feb. 12. He was laying face-down in an adult diaper with new and used catheters laying around. His autopsy says he died of urosepsis. Medical authorities believe the condition is extremely painful and his death was excruciating.

“Only Mustafa and God know how long it took him to die,” says Wally Nunn.

The County fought Broad+Liberty’s request for the autopsy results until a July ruling by Commonwealth Court in a separate case from Allegheny County.

Delco saw the writing on the wall and surrendered.

Why was this allowed to happen? Indifference? Incompetence? Both?

Delco took over operations of the prison on April 6, 2022. It had been private since 1998 when Nunn was chairman of Delco Council.

Nunn, in his Broad+Liberty article notes that in first ten months of government management three suicides — a tally not seen in a single year dating to at least 2015; the jail released the wrong inmate, and a homicide was recorded when an inmate strangled his cellmate.

He noted that the prison staff has voice dire concerns about conditions.

“We are… in fear of our safety on this job,” said Correction Officer Albert Johnson told County Council in December. “As of yesterday, two inmates stabbed. There have been more deaths in this prison since the county has come on. We are fearful for our lives… We get feces, we get urine thrown on us on a daily basis.”

He points out that Warden Laura Williams was subject of complaints at her previous post as chief deputy warden at Allegheny County Jail but the Delco hired her anyway.

Did you know she got the job with Delco despite having started her career in corrections in 2014 as a substance abuse counselor? That would mean she had but eight years experience before taking charge of one of a pretty significant government facility.

You think maybe she might have needed a bit more seasoning considering the medical indifference, murders, suicides and such that have occurred on her watch?

What could Delco Council have been thinking? It certainly wasn’t about the public.

Or the inmates.

Or the staff.

Nunn notes that the County spent $76 per day to house a prisoner in 2019. It’s now about $115 per day and climbing.

And why does Delaware County fight so hard to keep public records secret?

Mustafa Jackson Autopsy Shows Painful Death At Delco Prison