Three more Alabama prison deaths; coroner requests assistance notifying family of deceased

Evan Mealins
Montgomery Advertiser

Three more deaths have been reported within Alabama’s correctional system since July 26, and officials have been unable to contact one of the deceased's family members.

Paul Stephen Smith, 65, died Friday morning in the Donaldson Correctional Facility infirmary in Bessemer. Jefferson County Coroner Bill Yates said Smith is believed to have died from natural causes.

On July 11, Smith was taken from Donaldson’s health care unit to an area hospital for medical treatment, according to Alabama Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kelly Betts. Between July 11 and July 29 death, Smith was taken back to Donaldson and continued receiving care in the prison infirmary for “significant natural disease.” He was found unresponsive in the infirmary and pronounced dead at 7:42 a.m.

The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office has requested the public's assistance in contacting the family of Paul Stephen Smith, 65, who died in an Alabama prison this weekend.

The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office has requested the public’s assistance in notifying Smith’s family. Smith did not have any emergency contacts listed, according to the office.

'I can't breathe':Inmate dies in Montgomery County prison, sister believes oxygen denied

Read this:Donaldson inmates ignite garbage pile they say was drawing pests into prison

The office has tried unsuccessfully to reach his brother Tony Smith, who once lived in Pensacola, Florida. The office asks Smith’s family or anyone with knowledge of his family to call them at 205-930-3603.

Smith’s hometown is not listed in online court records, but he was serving a sentence out of Cullman County.

Another man died in Donaldson a day later. Lee Clemon Hardy was pronounced dead at 11:22 a.m. Saturday about seven minutes after he was found unresponsive in the prison infirmary.

Hardy had been was receiving care for “significant natural disease,” said Yates, who believes Hardy also died of natural causes.

Hardy was 65 and from Anniston.

Antonio Nixon, 43, died last Tuesday. Nixon was found unresponsive in Easterling Correctional Facility on July 26 and was pronounced dead after medical evaluation, Betts said.

Nixon was from Opelika.

A sign outside Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer.

Causes of death for the three men are all pending the results of autopsies, which typically take around four to six weeks to complete. The ADOC Law Enforcement Services Division is investigating their deaths.

Smith and Hardy bring the death toll from Donaldson to 25 in 2022, compared to 28 in all of 2021. Yates had previously said he doesn’t believe there is a common factor contributing to the deaths.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanMealins.

Your subscription makes our journalism possible. Subscribe today