Miami-Dade County
Miami jail inmate diagnosed with the coronavirus dies at hospital after ‘shaking violently’
A Miami-Dade jail inmate diagnosed with the novel coronavirus has died while hospitalized after suffering a “medical emergency” while behind bars, the Miami Herald has learned.
It was unclear Monday morning whether Charles Hobbs Jr., 51, was officially killed by COVID-19, the illness caused by the highly contagious virus that has caused a global pandemic and infected over 300 inmates in the county’s three jails.
The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department on Sunday confirmed that Hobbs, who had been an inmate at the Metro West Detention Center, had died.
As it does with all in-custody deaths, the Miami-Dade police department will investigate. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office is also investigating; as of Monday morning, a cause of death was still pending.
“The inmate, who tested positive for COVID-19 and had other chronic health conditions, was hospitalized for medical reasons. Due to the on-going nature of the investigation, no further comment will be made at this time,” according to a statement released by the jails. “The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department would like to extend our condolences to the family of the deceased.”
If COVID-19 killed Hobbs, he would be the first Miami-Dade jail inmate to die from the illness. Hobbs was in jail awaiting trial on four counts of failing to register as a sex offender. He was convicted in 1998 of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.
Hobbs had been at Metro West, which has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus — and is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by “medically vulnerable” inmates looking to be released because of their fears. As of Friday, 163 inmates at Metro West have tested positive of 487 tested, according to court documents.
A federal judge last week criticized conditions in the jail, but declined to order the release of the inmates, instead ordering jailers to give soap, cleaning supplies and masks to inmates. The suit was filed by civil rights groups, the Dream Defenders, Advancement Project National Office, Community Justice Project and Civil Rights Corps, and GST LLP.
Like correctional facilities across Florida and the United States, Miami-Dade has struggled to contain the viral outbreak. Prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges have succeeded in reducing the overall jail population, from about 4,000 to about 3,200, releasing inmates who pose less of a risk to public safety.
In Florida state prisons, more than 200 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, and five have died. Testing, however, remains limited.
Federal jails have also been hard hit, as have immigration detention centers. Last week, a Miami federal magistrate judge recommended that U.S immigration officials “substantially” reduce detainee populations at three South Florida detention centers.
Hobbs’ court docket shows that on March 25, he had been allowed release on house arrest on “electronic monitoring,” or a GPS ankle monitor, but it was unclear why he remained in custody when he was hospitalized last week. According to documents filed in the federal lawsuit late Sunday, Hobbs apparently could not pay the total $20,000 bond for the four counts.
The documents included affidavits from three inmates describing what they say was Hobbs’ ailing condition while inside Metro West.
“About four weeks ago, Charles became sick with a cough and congestion. After about two weeks of having those symptoms, Charles’ condition deteriorated dramatically over the course of a week or a week and a half,” Gregory Arrington said, adding: “On at least three occasions, Charles had a high fever.”
Arrington wrote that Charles only got his temperature checked a few times by a nurse. Finally, on April 28, Hobbs had a “medical emergency. Officers and nurses rushed down.
“When the medical staff was trying to take Charles out of our dorm, Charles began shaking violently in his bed. To me, it looked like Charles was having a seizure. The nurses had to hold Charles’ body down to prevent him from falling out of his bunk bed. It was terrifying,” Arrington wrote.
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