Thomas Willis
Thomas Willis, 41, died while held at Valdosta State Prison in Georgia in February 2017. His daughter, Jordan Fisher, had never known him and had tried to reach him through letters, and she learned of his death from a returned letter. The Georgia Department of Corrections said he was found unresponsive in his cell on a Thursday afternoon, and an incident report later described him hanging from a light fixture, while a cellmate wrote to Fisher that Willis killed himself. The state corrections department has refused to release the investigation and autopsy results, so the cause and manner of his death remain unconfirmed.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. A cellmate wrote that Willis hanged himself in his cell, and the state corrections department's incident report says staff found him hanging from a light fixture.
Reported by: Georgia Department of Corrections incident report (the agency that held him); cellmate, in letters to his daughter (witnesses); Valdosta Daily Times (reporters).