Kelly Harding
Kelly Harding, 48, was held at the Pinellas County Jail in Florida, where he died on July 21, 2013. His brother, Earl Harding of St. Petersburg, said he was shocked by the death and had last visited Kelly at the jail in February. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Kelly's cellmate broke bones in his neck and stuffed wet toilet paper down his throat, and that the cellmate has been charged with first-degree murder. Deputies answering a 'man down' call found Kelly unconscious, and he died after being taken to a hospital. Later reporting says the sheriff acknowledged the two men should never have been housed together and ordered a review of booking, classification and housing, and that the cell was not under camera surveillance.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (neglect alleged). Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Harding's cellmate killed him by stuffing wet toilet paper down his throat and strangling him, and the sheriff later acknowledged the two men should never have shared a cell.
Reported by: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held him); Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri (the agency that held him). The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.
Custody: Serving a sentence.
Sources (6)
- Authorities: Pinellas jail inmate chokes cell mate to death
- Florida inmate dies after having wet toilet paper stuffed down his throat
- Scott Greenberg, Fla. prisoner, kills cellmate by stuffing toilet paper down his throat, report says
- Florida Inmate Stuffed Toilet Paper in Cell Mate's Throat, Killed Him: Authorities
- Inside hellhole Florida jail where the Duchess of Sussex's father Thomas Markle Sr, 82, is now behind bars...with violent history of inmate murders and brutal beatings
- Thomas Markle is 'separated from other prisoners' after being moved to hellhole jail with history of murders and brutal beatings