KFOR questions ODOC notification protocols
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – In 2023, KFOR covered a number of issues with Oklahoma’s Department of Corrections, calling attention to prominent issues like staffing and safety, while highlighting families’ desperate pleas for answers after their loved ones died behind bars.
Now the station is turning its attention to how some of those families found out, revisiting the stories of several families.
‘They already in hell, why you gotta make it harder for them?,” lamented Vivian, the mother of Joesiah Turner.
Turner died in December after an alteraction with prison staff and his cell mate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Vivian learned her son was dead following a phone call with an inmate, rather than jail staff.
“Jail people never called us. You know what they said? They tried [but] I didn’t have no missed call,” she said in a December interview with the station.
Nearly a month after KFOR aired her story, the Department of Corrections issued this statement about the delayed notification to the Turner family:
For Inmate Joesiah Turner, the time of death was established at 10:20 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2023. On Dec. 4, beginning at 9 a.m., OSP medical staff attempted to contact his mother at every number listed in his file with no success. Outside agencies were contacted in search of a valid phone number in an effort to give notification. At approx. 3 p.m. on Dec. 4, his sister called the facility with the mother present, and staff was able to give notification at that time. The delay was also explained during that phone call.
Department of Corrections
“It’s just not fair…if they’re there in your care, the way they came to you, they should come back that same way…at least alive,” said the aunt of Derrick Garrett, who died at the Conner Correctional Center in early 2023.
She said the family believes the man died under suspicious circumstances.
We asked the Department of Corrections to clarify their protocol:
WHAT IS THE PROCESS AND TIMELINE FOR MAKING DEATH NOTIFICATIONS?
While Oklahoma’s Department of Corrections policies for next-of-kin notifications appears to be clearly laid out, including informing an inmate’s emergency contact by phone or other means of quick communication, the families said they do not believe the institutions are following their own protocols, as they found out their loved ones died or were seriously hurt from other sources.
Inmate Death, Injury and Illness Notification and Procedures
“The inmates had called and told me, and [the staff] was like, ‘I am so sorry, they shouldn’t have done it. They were wrong in calling you and letting you know that he passed’,” said Derrick’s mother.
REPORTER: Are you glad that, that … other person called you?
MOM: Yes, [we] would have never known.
The family of Carlos Ross, Jr. learned about his brutal beating behind bars at the at Dick Conner Correctional Center from a video that went viral on social media.
“If you watched that video, he was beaten. And there’s one thing that was missing. There was no intervention from the facility whatsoever. So we don’t know what’s going on inside, but we see the results, what is going on,” said his cousin in a earlier interview with KFOR.
“I want justice to be done behind this situation,” added Carlos’ father as he choked up about the brutal beating of his namesake.
While the department said they are investigating specific situations, Derrick’s mother Mashaun said she calls the prison warden almost every day for answers, following his death nearly a year ago.
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“Something is not right. That’s why he’s not returning my calls,” she said.
In newly released information from the Department of Corrections, a spokesperson said the time of death for Derrick was “established” at 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2023.
According to the agency, at 8:36 a.m., his mother was notified by Dick Conner Correctional Center medical staff.
“The state of Oklahoma needs to know this. They need to hear what our tax dollars are doing and how we’re being failed in the prison system,” said Carlos’s cousin Clifford.
In an informational release Tuesday, the Department said in the last three years, they have developed and implemented a record-keeping system, known as the inmate and community offender network, designed to replace outdated systems and cut down on human error.
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