12th Inmate in MS Prison System Dies

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The latest death of an inmate in Mississippi’s prison system is the 12th this month.

Rankin County Coroner David Ruth says a man who had been housed at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility died at a Jackson-area hospital early Monday. Ruth told The Associated Press he was withholding the inmate’s name pending notification of the man’s family.

Ruth says the 11th inmate to die this month was 33-year-old Nicole Rathman. Ruth said she was taken from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility to Merritt Health Central “a couple of days” before her Aug. 23 death. An autopsy is needed to determine the cause.

Rathman was serving a 10-year sentence from Rankin County for selling methamphetamine.

The 12 inmates who have died in August range in age from 24 to 78.