'Code Red' may have caused the death of an Alabama prison inmate

WETUMPKA ‒ A “Code Red” may have led to the death of a prisoner last week, which is said to have been caused by a supervising corrections officer and two other inmates.

A spokesman for the prison system, Kelly Betts, said that Correctional Sgt. Demarcus Sanders and inmates Fredrick Gooden and Stefranio Hampton have all been charged with murder. She said that Sanders quit his job with the Alabama Department of Correction and is now being held at the Elmore County Jail. The ADOC is still in charge of the prisoners.

Betts said that the victim, Rubyn James Murray, got into a fight with one of the correctional guards Wednesday night outside his dorm at the Elmore Correctional Facility.

“Code Red” is the command to attack an officer in DOC language.

After the fight, Murray was taken to the back gate holding area and then taken to the Staton Health Care Unit for a medical checkup and care.

Court records allege that Sanders “…. escorted two inmate co-defendants to the back gate of the facility and unlocked the cell. The defendant allowed the two co-defendants into the cell, and the co-defendants attacked and beat the victim, causing serious injuries …”

Murray was found unconscious, and Betts said he was taken to a health care center in Staton and then to a nearby hospital for emergency care. Murray could not be saved by the medical staff, and the doctor on duty said he was dead.

Sanders was held without bond at first, but on Tuesday, Elmore District Court Judge Glenn Goggans set a $75,000 bond. Sanders’ court-appointed lawyer, Michael Griggs, asked for a $50,000 bond.

Goggans was told by Griggs that Sanders has never been in trouble with the law, is a respected member of the Alabama Army National Guard, and has worked before. District Attorney CJ Robinson didn’t object to the bond, but his office did ask for $75,000.

This case is “unusal,” Robinson said.

“This wasn’t just an act of rage for no reason. “It was on purpose,” said Robinson. “Mr. Sanders made a bad choice, and it could land him in prison for a few years, but not as a guard. But we don’t think Mr. Sanders is a danger to the public or likely to run away.

“If Mr. Sanders gets out on bond, we don’t think he will shoot an old lady or hurt a child. “No, it’s not like that.”

A Montgomery Advertiser reporter asked Robinson after the hearing, since the victim was a prisoner serving a long term if the bond amount showed that his office put less value on this victim’s life. “Not at all,” replied Robinson. “I think it shows that we handle bond on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

“Once again, this is not a normal situation. We don’t think that Mr. Sanders poses a danger to the public.”

Gooden and Hampton did not show up for their court dates. Goggans told the DA’s office that the two men would be able to go to court to ask for preliminary hearings in their cases. Robinson told the reporters after the hearings that those appearances will be set up in the future and will probably be done virtually because of safety concerns.

Murray, who was 38 years old, was in Montgomery County serving a 20-year term for robbery. Gooden, who is 60 years old, is doing 30 years in prison for stealing things out of Jefferson County. Hampton, who is 35 years old, got a life sentence in Montgomery County for robbery.

Further charges and personnel actions are pending, Betts said.

Fresh News From Alabama –

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