Walter Gates
Denorris Howell, 36, died early on January 3, 2020, while held at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The Sunflower County coroner, Heather Burton, said he died from stab wounds, and another person was injured in the same incident. Corrections officials said his death appeared unrelated to the larger disturbances at the prison that week, and one account attributed the fight to his cellmate. Relatives told reporters that the violence was tied to a gang conflict, which officials did not confirm.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody. Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton said Walter Gates suffered multiple stab wounds in a fight among prisoners, and the prison doctor pronounced him dead.
Reported by: Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton (medical examiner or coroner); Mississippi State Penitentiary prison doctor (the agency that held him).
News reports (14)
- Inmates killed in fights at 3 Mississippi prisons this week
- 4th Mississippi inmate dies from prison violence in a week
- Fourth Death in Mississippi Prisons; Judge Says Other Prison OK
- One inmate killed, others injured during riot at Parchman
- 5 People Have Been Killed in Mississippi Prisons This Week
- Mississippi Prison Deaths Follow Warnings of Meager Funding, Shortages
- 5th inmate dead since Sunday following multiple riots in Miss. prisons, according to MDOC
- Inmate killed in fight at Parchman
- Mississippi prison chief says 4 of 5 killings done by gangs
- Inmates feared to have escaped after deadly riots at prison
- 2 more inmates die at Parchman prison in Mississippi
- 8 Inmates Have Died This Year At Mississippi State Penitentiary
- ‘The Gangs Run the Prison’: Witness Disputes Official Parchman Death Account
- ‘Catastrophic Failures’: Why Dozens of Killings In Mississippi Prisons Go Unanswered