From The Tribune staff reports
BESSEMER – The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has released the identity of an inmate who died inside a communal dormitory at William Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer on Oct. 9, 2022.
Joseph Paul Mitchell, 60, was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m., on Oct. 9, after being found unresponsive in the dormitory.
Mitchell’s family has been located and notified of his death.
According to Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates, Mitchell was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery from a 1986 conviction out of Madison County.
The cause of Mitchell’s death is still pending laboratory studies, but Yates said there is no evidence of foul play or trauma.
The circumstances surrounding the death are being investigated by the Alabama Department of Correction – Law Enforcement Services Division.