Elwood Jackson Jr.
Elwood K. Jackson, Jr., 51, died on Sunday, July 10, 2011, in the H-Unit of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, where he was housed on death row. Prison officials said he died of natural causes, and the prison physician pronounced him dead. A later report said he was found unresponsive in his cell, and prison officials said the death was not heat-related even though the prison had recent air-conditioning outages, and that the cooling system was working when he died. Doctors were reported to believe he died of natural causes.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). Prison officials and doctors say he died of natural causes and was not heat-related, but the summary reports recent air-conditioning outages at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, and a claim of neglect appears in the accounts.
Reported by: Oklahoma State Penitentiary officials (the agency that held him); prison doctors.