Body of Alabama inmate who died in prison returned to family without heart: lawsuit

The family of an Alabama inmate who died in prison was shocked when his body was delivered to them so "severely decomposed" that they "had no choice but to hold a closed casket funeral," per a federal lawsuit filed last Thursday.

After filling out the necessary paperwork, then spending five days attempting to claim Brandon Dotson's body after his Nov. 21 death, per a lawsuit filed by daughter Audrey Marie Dotson and mother Audrey South, they saw "bruising on the back of [his] neck and excessive swelling across his head" when the corpse finally arrived. 

Looking for answers, loved ones of 43-year-old Dotson retained a pathologist to conduct his own autopsy, and they were stunned to find "the heart was missing from the chest cavity of Mr. Dotson's body," according to the lawsuit.

Relatives still don't know "where Mr. Dotson’s heart currently is, or in whose possession" or precisely how or when the man died, they claim. 

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"[The Alabama Department of Corrections] performed an autopsy on [Dotson] and removed the heart, thereby concealing the true cause of death," reads the suit, filed by attorney Lauren Faraino. "By taking this action, Defendants intentionally or recklessly destroyed or altered key evidence that deprived Plaintiff of the ability to determine how the deceased died through an independent autopsy."

Dotson's mother and daughter are now "seek[ing] the immediate return of Mr. Dotson's heart" so it "may be examined by an autopsy pathologist and then properly cremated or interred." 

Dotson had served 19 years of his 99-year sentence in prison for a burglary conviction and a parole violation at Barbour County's Ventress Correctional Facility. 

Although he was not sentenced to life, the alleged misconduct of prison staff was "tantamount to a death sentence," per the document. 

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Dotson's family brought claims of 8th and 14th Amendment violations, indifference to the man's medical needs and safety, conspiring to cover up deliberate indifference, interference with the family's right of burial, intentional and negligent mishandling of a corpse, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to notify next of kin and wrongful death. 

In the days before his death, Dotson allegedly told prison staff that another inmate was threatening him with violence. In response, prison staff allegedly moved Dotson from "segregated housing" into general population, where he could access drugs and be attacked easily by those seeking to harm and exploit him in the "grossly understaffed and severely overcrowded" Ventress Correctional Facility, according to the lawsuit.

Correctional staff had "every opportunity to intervene and prevent the death of Mr. Dotson," the suit claimed, but "no member... was available to prevent the abuse Mr. Dotson endured and the constant and unlimited access to drugs that he had." 

When he was found dead, the family alleges, Dotson's "body had already begun to stiffen."

The suit names Alabama Department of Corrections brass, the warden of the Ventress Correctional Facility, the director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences and unnamed prison employees as defendants. 

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine is also named as a defendant, because the school is a "possible intended recipient of Mr. Dotson's heart."

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The lawsuit cites an alleged recent history of the Alabama DOC providing "human organs and tissues" to medical students for "laboratory exercises." 

In an emailed statement, University of Alabama at Birmingham media specialist Brianna Hoge told Fox News Digital that the school has reviewed its records, "which show that UAB did not perform this autopsy and has not been involved in this matter," and subsequently reached out to the family's attorney.

In addition to the return of Dotson's heart and a jury trial, his family is asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to issue an injunction against Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences Director Angelo Della Manna and Alabama DOC Commissioner John Q. Hamm.

Hamm could have "halt[ed] the constitutional violations" that took place in the prison, the lawsuit claimed, ensured that the family received Dotson's body in a timely manner and instructed wardens to notify the family of the man's missing heart. AFDS Della Manna could have "instruct[ed]... medical examiners not to remove organs or tissues from a body undergoing an autopsy without permission from his next of kin," per the suit.

"In the midst of grieving Brandon Dotson’s untimely death, his family is having to fight to get the most basic answers about how he died, and why the Alabama Department of Corrections returned his body without his heart," Faraino told Law & Crime. 

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"At this time we do not know where his heart is. It is the state’s responsibility to keep those who are in its prisons safe from harm," the family's lawyer continued. "The ADOC failed to do that for Brandon, as they have for dozens of other individuals this year."

Faraino also told the outlet that Dotson was not granted parole, and that it is unclear whether he was notified before his death. 

Fox News Digital could not reach the Alabama DOC or Faraino for comment at press time.