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Florida District Attorney Refuses to Press Charges Against Prison Staff Who Boiled a Prisoner Alive

Almost a decade after the horrific murder of black Darren Rainey, none of the involved employees of the Miami-Dade Correctional Institution, Florida, has yet been held responsible for the crime. District Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle refuses to charge four prison guards who were allegedly involved in the death of an inmate.

Окружной прокурор штата Флорида отказывается выдвигать обвинения против сотрудников тюрьмы, заживо сваривших заключенного, изображение №1

In June 2012, Darren Rainey, a 50-year-old black man serving a prison sentence in Miami-Dade Correctional Institution, Florida, was boiled alive by prison workers. It is reported that a man suffering from schizophrenia was locked in a shower with hot water, which led to his painful death. So far, none of the employees of the correctional institution has been held responsible for the man’s death, and the district prosecutor refuses to bring any charges against the guards involved in the incident.

At the time of his death, Rainey, 50, had been in Miami-Dade County Jail for only a couple of months. He was sentenced to two years in prison for a minor offense related to drug possession. Given the serious psychological problems that the man suffered from, he was forced to serve his sentence in the psychiatric ward of the prison.

On June 23, 2021, Rainey smeared himself with feces for unknown reasons. After some time, the prison guards noticed this, handcuffed the convict and dragged him into the shower, ordering him to immediately put himself in order. According to numerous witnesses, Darren began to resist, clearly making it clear to the guards that he was not going to follow their instructions. After a few minutes, the guards ran out of patience, they forcibly dragged him into the shower stall and turned on the hot water, putting the prisoner on the floor. It is reported that the water temperature reached 82 degrees Celsius.

The man spent about two hours in the shower, which was designed in such a way that the person inside could not control the temperature of the water. Other convicts recall that while Darren was screaming in agony, fighting for his life, the officers mocked him, joking and claiming that “now he will be clean for the rest of his life.”

Последствия горячего душа
Consequences of a hot shower

Eventually, after almost two hours of unbearable torture, 50-year-old Darren Rainey stopped showing signs of life. The man’s body, completely covered with burns, was taken out of a prison torture chamber, his skin literally “fell off when touched.” Despite the efforts of prison doctors, it was not possible to save the prisoner’s life. Later it turned out that the man lost consciousness, his heart could not stand the load and stopped working. The prison nurse stated that his body was in terrible condition: burns covered about 90% of the body, and the temperature was so high that it could not be measured with a conventional thermometer.

In March 2017, after a five-year investigation, District Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle refused to press murder charges against correctional officers who had bullied Darren that day. The prison doctor on duty at the time claims that Rainey’s death was not investigated properly, in addition, there are facts proving that the US Department of Corrections may have tried to cover up this incident. According to the autopsy results, investigators concluded that the correctional officers “had no intention” to harm the man, and the temperature of the shower water was not “excessively hot,” as stated in the report.

Almost ten years after this incident, none of the law enforcement officers has been punished. According to Harriet Kryachkowski, a former consultant at the correctional facility where Rainey died, the practice of using a hot shower as punishment for prisoners was quite common. At least eight other prisoners were forced to go through this, but survived. In addition, prisoners were often starved, beaten and humiliated both mentally and physically.

Darren’s relatives do not give up hope to achieve justice for him and punish those involved in his death to the fullest extent of the law. A petition demanding justice for him has already gained more than 535 thousand signatures on the Internet. In 2018, medical examiner Emma Lew, who actually saved uniformed murderers from prosecution, stating that according to the results of an “independent” autopsy, the death of a prisoner occurred due to circumstances unrelated to the actions of officers, and what happened was an accident, received a promotion and an award for excellent work.

Human rights activists of the Foundation join the demands of Rainey’s relatives to conduct a second investigation, and also call on the US Department of Justice to check the conditions of detention of prisoners in the Miami-Dade correctional institution, Florida. In addition, the Foundation demands the dismissal of District Attorney Catherine Fernandez Rundle, who apparently entered into a criminal conspiracy to acquit criminals in police uniforms.