BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Wendell Corey Hines, a 54-year-old inmate at William Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, was found dead Wednesday night, marking yet another death in Alabama’s troubled prison system. Hines’s death follows a string of fatalities within the state’s prisons, reflecting a crisis in conditions that advocates warn is reaching emergency levels.
Within the past week, other inmates have also died across the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) facilities, intensifying scrutiny of conditions, including inadequate heating and severe overcrowding. Prisoners at Donaldson have reported substandard conditions with worsening safety concerns.
The ADOC’s recent lack of transparency, having paused regular reporting of inmate deaths, has sparked alarm among families and advocates. Alabama’s prisons have long struggled with staffing shortages, violence, and health risks, but recent incidents underscore the escalating risks to inmates’ lives.
In response to the growing number of deaths, activists are pressing state leaders for urgent reforms, emphasizing the need to address systemic neglect in one of the nation’s most beleaguered prison systems.