Man awaiting murder trial in Binghamton stabbing death found dead at Broome County jail

The man accused of stabbing a Binghamton resident to death last year died at the Broome County Jail last week, according to the victim’s widow.

Binghamton resident Shakeema Ward said Mitchell C. Lindow was found dead in his cell early Friday. Ward told the Press & Sun-Bulletin/pressconnects she received the news Monday morning in a phone call from Broome County District Attorney Michael Korchak.

Korchak’s office has not publicly confirmed the death. The Broome County Sheriff’s Office has not returned requests for comment. Ward said Korchak did not reveal the cause of death.

Mitchell Lindow awaiting trial in death of David Royes Jr.

Lindow, a 30-year-old Glen Aubrey resident, had been held since December, when he was arrested on charges of first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 2 stabbing death of David Royes Jr. at the latter’s 110 Main St. apartment.

Lindow was facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. The killing led to lockouts at four schools in the Binghamton City School District because of the close proximity.

Ward witnessed her husband’s stabbing shortly after sending their two daughters off to school.

Finding the memories too painful, the family moved back to Brooklyn in the weeks following Royes’ death. Ward and her daughters returned to Binghamton two months ago, and she said they are preparing to move into a new apartment in the coming weeks.

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Lindow’s death is at least the 26th recorded at the Broome County Jail since 1982, according to a tally compiled by Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier. A handful of those deaths were recorded among detainees who had been released only hours before.

Inmate deaths are investigated by the New York State Commission of Correction, which is tasked with overseeing correctional facilities statewide. The agency did not return requests for comment.

While incarcerated, Lindow was additionally charged with felony aggravated harassment of a corrections employee and obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor, for allegedly throwing a liquid he claimed to be urine in the face of a female corrections officer in May. He was then pepper-sprayed after refusing to comply with an officer’s orders, according to the sheriff’s office.

The following month, Lindow was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, for allegedly attacking another inmate with a “closed hand,” causing a broken nose and a subdural hematoma, or brain bleed.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Broome County Jail death: Murder defendant Mitchell Lindow found dead