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THREAD: Darnell McMillian died in Alabama& #39;s Donaldson prison on June 22, the 15th incarcerated person to die in AL under violent circumstances this year. He was 38 & had little family. His cousin says his mother died years ago. He was raised by a grandmother who died in 2010. 1/7
Last week @BurkhalterEddie reported that sources inside the prison say McMillian died after officers put him in a suicide cell with another man, then sprayed them with pepper spray during an altercation. His cousin was horrified to learn this. 2/7 https://bit.ly/2Z81ldW ">https://bit.ly/2Z81ldW&q...
I found a Facebook page that Mr. McMillian maintained in prison, presumably with a contraband cell phone. These are prevalent in Alabama prisons along with dangerous drugs, but looking through his FB feed provides a window into his incarceration. It is heartbreaking. 3/7
His posts are sporadic- about boredom, getting high in prison, struggling to be hopeful, and watching his favorite TV show Empire. He writes a lot about loving a woman named Tracy, but also tattooed the name "Rhonda" on his arm- "so she know it was real 17 years ago."
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His last post was 2017. "I go up for parole today!" he writes. 2 people wish him luck. A few posts before he asks if anyone will trust him "with a place to call home." A full year before that he is anxious having nowhere to live. "Who can help me," he writes. No one answers. 5/7
I did not know this man but he should not be dead. Our prison system harmed Darnell McMillian, and in turn, it also harmed the people he robbed & the community from which he was removed. No good came from locking him up. Nothing about it was "correctional." #prisonisabuse 6/7
The post that got me was this one. I imagine him writing it in an overcrowded, loud dorm as he wills himself to get through just one more hellish day. "At least I& #39;m alive," he writes. "I will not lose." I wish we had done better for Mr. McMillian. I hope he rests in peace. 7/7
