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Former Walker County Jail employee appears in federal court

Warning: This article contains graphic images. The former Walker County jail guard charged in the death of an inmate made his first court appearance Thursday. Joshua Conner Jones pleaded not guilty in federal court in Birmingham. Last month, Jones reached a deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office for his role in Tony Mitchell's death in 2023 after two weeks in jail, as well as for an earlier attack on another inmate. “Connor takes responsibility for his part in this, he is ashamed of his behavior and he wants to make things right,” attorney Scott Brower said after the arraignment. Brower fully expects more people to be charged soon through confessions or indictments in connection with Mitchell's death. “I believe that you will probably see charges against certain individuals in the next month, including employees at the Walker County Sheriff's Department jail and possibly some of the nursing staff as well,” Brower said. Despite entering a required not guilty plea at his first court appearance on Thursday, Jones plans to plead guilty in the coming weeks to his role in the death of inmate Anthony “Tony” Mitchell, whose death was ruled a homicide due to “medical neglect.” According to the plea, Mitchell was arrested on Jan. 12, 2023, after allegedly firing a weapon at officers who arrived on his property to conduct a mental wellness check. When he arrived at the prison, Mitchell was reportedly “unable to walk or stand on his own” and was “disoriented, unable to fight, and unable to follow instructions.” Mitchell was then draped in a “suicide gown,” despite there being no indication he was suicidal, and taken to a medical unit in a wheelchair.>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Jones claims that, to his knowledge, Mitchell was never medically examined until the morning of his death two weeks later because he and several co-conspirators “falsely told medical personnel” that Mitchell was “too combative to be examined, when in fact he was not.” During his time in prison, Mitchell “was almost always lying naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces on the concrete floor, with no mat or blanket.” In Jones' words, Mitchell “looked really bad.” When Jones or his co-conspirators expressed comments or concern about Mitchell's condition, another member of the conspiracy would dismiss them, saying things like “(expletive) he gets what he gets since he shot at police officers.” Several comments were also made that Mitchell should have been killed so they (the correctional officers) didn't have to deal with him and that they would have killed him if they had responded instead of the officers.>> YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Local coverage from WVTM 13On the morning of January 26, Jones was reportedly told that a nurse had ordered Mitchell to be taken to a hospital as soon as possible and that he could die if he wasn't. That message was told to one of Jones' co-conspirators, who reportedly responded, “I'll tell you what, next time you sit on the toilet and do (expletive), I'm calling you to bother you about something unimportant.” Mitchell was eventually taken to Walker Baptist Medical Center Hospital in the back of a patrol car. At his mother's request, doctors later stopped life support. Mitchell's family filed a lawsuit in federal court after video surfaced showing officers carrying Mitchell to a car. The family says he spent two weeks in a holding cell and may have been put in a freezer. The employee who had that footage was fired from the police force. After Thursday's hearing, one of Tony Mitchell's aunts simply said she hopes those responsible for wrongdoing surrounding her nephew's death are held accountable. This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available. Stay up to date with the latest stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama —

Attention: This article contains graphic information.

The former Walker County jail guard charged in the death of an inmate appeared in court for the first time Thursday.

Joshua Conner Jones pleaded not guilty in Birmingham federal court.

Last month, Jones entered into an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office to plead guilty to charges for his role in the death of Tony Mitchell in 2023 after two weeks in prison, as well as for an earlier attack on another inmate.

“Connor takes responsibility for his part in this, he is ashamed of his behavior and he wants to make things right,” attorney Scott Brower said after the arraignment.

Brower fully expects that more people will soon be charged in connection with Mitchell's death, either through confessions or indictments.

“I believe that over the next month, charges will be filed against certain individuals, including employees at the Walker County Sheriff's Department Jail and possibly some nursing staff,” Brower said.

Although Jones pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance Thursday, he plans to plead guilty in the coming weeks for his role in the death of inmate Anthony “Tony” Mitchell, whose death was ruled a homicide due to “medical neglect.”

According to the complaint, Mitchell was arrested on January 12, 2023, after allegedly firing a gun at officers who arrived at his property to conduct a mental health check.

Upon arrival at the prison, Mitchell was reportedly unable to walk or stand, was disoriented and unable to fight, and was unable to follow instructions.

Afterwards, although there was no indication that Mitchell was a suicide risk, he was dressed in a “suicide gown” and taken to a hospital ward in a wheelchair.

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Jones claims that, to his knowledge, Mitchell was never medically examined until the morning of his death two weeks later because he and several co-conspirators “falsely told medical personnel” that Mitchell “was too combative to be examined, when in fact he was not.”

During his time in prison, Mitchell was “almost always lying naked, wet, cold and covered in feces on the concrete floor, without a mat or blanket.” In Jones' words, Mitchell “looked really bad.”

When Jones or his co-conspirators made comments about Mitchell's condition or expressed concern, another member of the conspiracy would dismiss them with statements like, “(expletive) he's going to get what he's going to get because he shot cops.”

It has also been commented on several occasions that Mitchell should have been killed so that they (the correctional officers) would not have to deal with him, and that they would have killed him if they had responded instead of the deputies.

>> YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Community reporting from WVTM 13

On the morning of January 26, Jones was reportedly told that a nurse had ordered Mitchell to be taken to a hospital as soon as possible or he might die.

This message was passed on to one of Jones' co-conspirators, who allegedly replied, “I tell you what, the next time you sit on the toilet and do (expletive), I'm going to call you to bother you about something unimportant.”

Mitchell was eventually taken to Walker Baptist Medical Center Hospital in the back of a patrol car. Doctors later removed him from life support at his mother's request.

Mitchell's family filed a lawsuit in federal court after video surfaced showing officers carrying Mitchell to a car. The family says he spent two weeks in a cell and may have been put in a freezer. The employee who had that footage was fired from the police department.

After Thursday's hearing, one of Tony Mitchell's aunts said only that she hoped those involved in wrongdoing surrounding her nephew's death would be held accountable.

This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available. Stay up to date with the latest news with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it Here.

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