ONEONTA, Ala. — Two former corrections officers at the Blount County Detention Center have been charged in connection with the death of a 23-year-old inmate, a case that has drawn renewed attention after a judge set bond this week.
A Blount County grand jury indicted Joseph Michael Blaine Evans, 26, of Oneonta, and Liletzy Valdez Carbajal, 19, of Cleveland, on charges of felony murder and second-degree assault, according to court records and multiple local news outlets. Both are no longer employed at the jail, Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon confirmed.
The underlying incident began on Jan. 25, 2026, when inmate Arthur P. Morse, 23, of Hayden, began experiencing a medical event inside the facility, according to an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency statement. Jail staff contacted medical personnel and Morse was transported to UAB St. Vincent’s Blount Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Feb. 6, 2026, ALEA said.
Court documents allege that on Jan. 25, Evans and/or Carbajal assaulted Morse by repeatedly “dry stunning” him with a Taser while he was unable to stand or walk unassisted due to diabetic ketoacidosis, and that Morse died as a proximate result of the assault. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences has been conducting an autopsy, with findings to be turned over to the Blount County District Attorney’s Office once the investigation is complete, ALEA said.
The indictments were returned last week, and Evans and Carbajal were booked into the Blount County Jail following their arrests. On Wednesday, July 15, 2026, a judge set bond at $75,000 for each defendant during Aniah’s Law hearings, with conditions that they cannot work in a custodial role, cannot leave Alabama and must report to Pardons and Paroles if released.
ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation opened its probe on Jan. 25 at the request of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and has been leading the investigation into the in-custody death. Sheriff Mark Moon has said in past cases that the office cooperates fully with state investigators and does not tolerate misconduct by staff, though no new public statement specific to this case was immediately available.
The case has added to a string of recent scrutiny of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, which has seen other staff members charged or convicted in separate incidents in recent years.