Darren Rainey
Darren Rainey, a 50-year-old man held at Dade Correctional Institution in Florida, died in a shower in the prison's mental health unit on January 23, 2012. The Miami-Dade medical examiner, Emma Lew, ruled the death an accident and listed complications from schizophrenia, heart disease and confinement to a shower as causes, and State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle declined to file charges. The Miami Herald reported contradictions in those findings, and said photographs and outside pathologists' reviews raised questions about whether he suffered thermal burns, while a prison inspector reported the shower water at 160 degrees. His family said officials pressured them to have him cremated quickly, and his attorney has said the family believes officials conspired to cover up what happened, a claim made in the family's civil suit against the Florida Department of Corrections.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). The medical examiner ruled the death an accident and the state attorney declined charges, but his family's civil suit and outside pathologists dispute that account, saying staff confined him in a shower where a prison inspector reported the water at 160 degrees, and that he suffered thermal burns.
Reported by: Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Emma Lew (medical examiner or coroner); Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle; his family's civil suit against the Florida Department of Corrections (family or their lawyers); the Miami Herald (reporters).
Lawsuit: His family sued the Florida Department of Corrections over his death, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.