FBI investigating Mississippi Prison Death Involving Guards Melvin Cancer was killed by guards beating him inside the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, a new report shows.

Mississippi prison officials told Mary Anderson her uncle died of a heart attack while incarcerated. A year later, the FBI is investigating his death as a homicide. He was reportedly beaten to death by prison guards. My latest for @themarshallproject.org

www.themarshallproject.org/2026/02/24/m...

FBI investigating Mississippi Prison Death Involving Guards Melvin Cancer was killed by guards beating him inside the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, a new report shows.

When Mississippi officials informed Mary Anderson that her uncle had died in prison, they told her he had suffered a heart attack.

But now the FBI is investigating the 2025 death of Melvin Cancer at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility as a homicide, and the guards as alleged perpetrators.

Mississippi Lawmakers Push Prison Reform After Dozens of Deaths Exposed A reform bill that would set up an oversight committee to review each prison death comes after a joint news investigation by several local outlets.

This could be a big step in Mississippi following great work by @calebbedillion.bsky.social @dajaehenry.com
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/02/04/m...

How Trump’s Insurrection Act Threat Differs From JFK’s Use in Miss. The military has been used domestically about 30 times since 1807, mostly to enforce civil rights and quell riots. Can they be used to quash political protests?

www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/27/i... @dajaehenry.com @themarshallproject.org @aclu.org @olemiss.bsky.social

How Trump’s Insurrection Act Threat Differs From JFK’s Use in Miss. The military has been used domestically about 30 times since 1807, mostly to enforce civil rights and quell riots. Can they be used to quash political protests?

In 1962, JFK used the Insurrection Act — an emergency power typically used to uphold civil rights & stop violent uprisings — to end a White supremacist uprising at Ole Miss. Years later, Trump wanted to use it differently, unleashing troops on Minnesotans.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/27/i...

We Investigated Killings Inside Mississippi Prisons. Here’s What We Found. Over 10 years, the reasons for the killings are often the same: Severe understaffing, lax oversight and gang violence.

www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/13/m... @prisonpolicy.org @aclu.org @prisonjournalism.bsky.social @dajaehenry.com

Aramark Cuts Free Prison Meals to Boost Profits, New Suit Claims A lawsuit claims the prison food company is cutting institutional meals to force incarcerated people to purchase costly food from the same vendor.

Food service company Aramark is leaving incarcerated people in West Virginia with empty stomachs and their loved ones with empty pockets, a federal class-action lawsuit alleges. Our story from @dajaehenry.com:

Dozens Locked in Hinds County’s Jails Without an Indictment—Some for Over a Year At least 60 people arrested in Hinds County have been jailed in its detention facilities for over three months with no indictment filed against them.

At least 60 people arrested in Hinds County have been jailed in its detention facilities for over three months—including at least five for more than a year—with no indictment filed against them and no pathway to a trial in sight.

buff.ly/Z0Exzpl

Why Hinds County Jail Is Holding Too Many People Without an Indictment The newly appointed federal receiver has asked the county’s district attorney to move more cases, while the DA has asked the county for more money.

Dozens have been locked up in Hinds County for >3 months with no indictment, a critical step in getting to trial. Many of them are crammed into Raymond Detention Center, where a man was killed this year. One man has been locked up for 18 months. My latest:
www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/05/h...

Why Mississippi Will Reopen Prison Homicide Cases Dating Back to 2015 Nearly 50 prison deaths will be examined, following a joint investigation by multiple Mississippi newsrooms.

After our reporting on 43 prison homicides, MDOC commissioner Burl Cain said the dept will review the more than two dozen unprosecuted killings, as well as deaths of undetermined causes that have happened withinin prison walls since 2015. To read more: www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/14/m...

Why America’s Jails Are So Disgusting Understaffing, outdated facilities and poor management have led to filthy conditions in jails in St. Louis, Cleveland and Hinds County, Mississippi.

"[C]ruel and unusual punishment."

"Plumbing issues, vermin infestations, feces-covered walls, and limited access to basic hygiene products, such as soap or tampons, are common complaints."

"I haven't had a shower in three to four weeks."
#Missouri #Ohio #Mississippi #USA #Incarceration

Why America’s Jails Are So Disgusting Understaffing, outdated facilities and poor management have led to filthy conditions in jails in St. Louis, Cleveland and Hinds County, Mississippi.

Filth, dysfunction and extortion. "It's the wild, wild west in there," Tedrick Francois told me after spending time in Raymond Detention Center. People awaiting trial there sleep alongside mice, have limited access to laundry, and must pay to use a toilet. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/09/j...

The Facts: Trey Reed’s 2nd Autopsy Has Not Been Released, Despite Rumors The second autopsy on the body of Delta State University student Trey Reed has not been released, despite uncorroborated social media rumors.

The second autopsy on the body of Delta State University student Trey Reed has not been released, despite uncorroborated social media rumors currently circulating claiming it uncovered evidence of foul play.

Reed, who was Black, was found hanging from a tree on the campus in Cleveland last month.

Court Appointee Takes Over Hinds County Jail After a decade-long court battle, receiver Wendell M. France takes the reins.

Today, a receiver took over Hinds County's Raymond Detention Center. People detained there shared stories of being held in cells covered with mold and feces and sleeping on floors. At least 6 died there this year, including a murder & drug overdose. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/01/m...

Cuyahoga County Jail Transfer Ends With Death at MetroHealth A special prosecutor is reviewing the actions of hospital workers and a sheriff’s deputy after the medical examiner ruled Tasha Grant’s death a homicide.

Cuyahoga County officials never disclosed that Ms. Grant died as a result of being physically restrained by a deputy. The Marshall Project-Cleveland team broke the news last night. w/ @brittanyhailer.bsky.social & Doug Livingston. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/09/25/c...

From the IAmA community on Reddit: At least 43 people have been killed in Mississippi prisons since 2015. Just 6 people have been convicted. We’re journalists who spent nearly a year investigating the... Explore this post and more from the IAmA community

🔍 Join us now in a Reddit AMA with The Marshall Project - Jackson's @dajaehenry.com and @mississippitoday.org's Mina Corpuz, who are discussing their investigation into Mississippi's deadly prisons where at least 43 people have been killed since 2015:

At 10 a.m., Mina and I will be answering questions about our investigation into homicides in Mississippi prisons. Join us here: www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s bicentennial is a call to action Harper’s voice is as urgent now as it was centuries ago — and her vision lives on through The 19th’s HBCU fellowship and other efforts in her name.

On her 200th birthday, Harper’s voice is as urgent now as it was centuries ago — and her vision lives on through The 19th’s HBCU fellowship and other efforts in her name.

Dozens Killed. Few Brought to Justice. This is Life Inside Mississippi’s Prisons. Inside Mississippi prisons, murder is never far away. Reporters uncover why violence has become routine and killings go unchecked.

Inside Mississippi’s Deadly Prisons: 42 killings, few answers — read the new investigative series
@themarshallproject.org
@prisonculture.bsky.social
@prisonpolicy.org
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@aclu.org
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www.themarshallproject.org/tag/mississi...

Dozens of Killings Inside Mississippi Prisons Rarely Get Justice At least 42 incarcerated people have been killed in the last decade. Just six people have been convicted in their deaths.

“No one deserves to die like this."

At least *43* people have been killed in Mississippi prisons since 2015. Poor staffing, lax oversight and gangs who rule by violence make it easier for killings to go unchecked. Read more: www.themarshallproject.org/2025/09/11/m...

Dozens of Killings Inside Mississippi Prisons Rarely Get Justice At least 42 incarcerated people have been killed in the last decade. Just six people have been convicted in their deaths.

"At least 42 people have been killed inside Mississippi prisons in the past decade."

"In the first half of this year, there were five homicides."

"'[A]n unimaginable pain you all gave me. This grief will last forever,' one victim's mother wrote."
#Mississippi #USA #Healthcare #Incarceration

Some Hinds County Detainees Go Years Without Seeing the Sun Jails in Jackson and other cities don’t always provide direct access to sunlight and fresh air—even when their own policies require it.

"When Semiko Crump arrived at Raymond Detention Center in December 2023, she said officers threw her 'in the hole.' Crump estimates she was in the dark, single-person cell for a few hours, writhing in pain from a broken foot."

Reporting by @dajaehenry.com @themarshallproject.org.

Civil Rights Probe of 1970 Jackson State, Mississippi, Killings At Risk? The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Act made way for investigations of racially motivated killings. The federal agency enforcing it is in disarray.

Police killed Phillip Gibbs, 21, and James Earl Green, 17, & wounded several others #OTD in 1970 at Jackson State & got away with it. 55 years later, the DOJ is investigating, but turmoil at the dept. could threaten what may be a last attempt at justice. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/05/14/j...

The shooting is being investigated under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, passed in 2008. So far, the DOJ has looked into the deaths of 162 people who allegedly died in racially motivated killings. 56 of those people died in Mississippi in the 1950s-1970s.

Civil Rights Probe of 1970 Jackson State, Mississippi, Killings At Risk? The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Act made way for investigations of racially motivated killings. The federal agency enforcing it is in disarray.

Police killed Phillip Gibbs, 21, and James Earl Green, 17, & wounded several others #OTD in 1970 at Jackson State & got away with it. 55 years later, the DOJ is investigating, but turmoil at the dept. could threaten what may be a last attempt at justice. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/05/14/j...

What Will Happen to the Hinds County Jail Once Under Court Control? When death and violence plagued the jail, the federal courts stepped in. We talked with an expert about what to expect from a receivership.

Fantastic explainer/Q&A from @dajaehenry.com feat. @stroud.bsky.social on the prospect of a federal receivership (what's that?—read the story!) at the Hinds County jail in Jackson, Mississippi. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/03/26/h...

What Will Happen to the Hinds County Jail Once Under Court Control? When death and violence plagued the jail, the federal courts stepped in. We talked with an expert about what to expect from a receivership.

A court-appointed receiver will take over Hinds County's long-embattled Raymond Detention Center, where 7 people died in 2021. What is a receiver? What will he do? How did we get here? These Qs and more answered in my latest for @themarshallproject.org: www.themarshallproject.org/2025/03/26/h...

Mississippi’s No Knock Raids Have Led to Death and Injury Some local courts have backed off approving no-knock raids, but there are still no statewide limits on these dangerous types of raids.

During a 2015 no-knock drug raid in rural northeast Mississippi, sheriff’s deputies shot and killed 57-year-old Ricky Keeton after he came to the door with an air pistol as SWAT team members forced their way into his trailer home at 1 a.m.