Charles Edward Singleton
Charles Edward Singleton was 74 years old and was being cared for at the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Center, an Alabama Department of Corrections facility for elderly and sick people in state custody. In November 2021 he was sent to an outside hospital for treatment and died there. When his body came back to his family after an autopsy, his daughter, Charlene Drake, wrote that nearly all of his organs had been removed. His family sued, saying the organs were taken without their consent; the Alabama Supreme Court dismissed most of the claims on timing grounds, and how he died has not been made public.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined
Lawsuit: His family sued the University of Alabama at Birmingham over organs removed during an autopsy, and the Alabama Supreme Court dismissed most claims, leaving one under the Anatomical Gift Act; no dollar amount was reported.
News reports (4)
- Inmate's organs, including brain, missing from decomposing body; second case in last month
- ADOC takes heat for dead inmates remains returned to families with missing hearts, other organs
- 5 families of inmates say university took their loved ones’ organs ‘without consent’
- Supreme Court of Alabama dismisses family’s claims that UAB stole organs of inmate