3 South Florida officers charged with murder in inmate beating

Three officers at the state’s Dade Correctional Institution have been charged with murder in the death of an inmate in February, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Thursday.

Christopher Rolon, 29, Kirk Walton, 34, and Ronald Connor, 24, are accused of beating a handcuffed inmate who had reportedly thrown urine on one of the officers, according to an FDLE news release.

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The Miami Herald reported that the inmate was Ronald Gene Ingram, 60, who was in the process of being transferred Feb. 14 to Lake Correctional Institution.

The inmate was beaten so badly that he had to be carried to a transport van, according to the FDLE. He was later found dead when the van stopped in Ocala.

The news release said a medical examiner determined that the inmate’s death was caused by a punctured lung that led to internal bleeding.

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“What happened in this case is completely unacceptable and is not a representation of our system, or of Dade Correctional Institution as a whole,” Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon said in a prepared statement. “The staff involved in this case failed, and as an agency we will not stand for this.”

Rolon, Walton and Connor were arrested Thursday morning and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County, the news release said.

FDLE agents from Jacksonville and Miami investigated the case.

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