Mississippi inmate dies after 2-week hospitalization
Published 8:14 am Wednesday, December 2, 2020
A Mississippi inmate died Tuesday after being hospitalized for two weeks, the state Department of Corrections said.
An autopsy will be done on James Curtis Simmons Sr., who died at Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg, where he was taken Nov. 17. Simmons was 65.
He was serving a 20-year sentence in South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Greene County after pleading guilty to child exploitation in Pearl River County. He was sentenced Aug. 13, 2015.
At least 96 inmates have died in Mississippi prisons since late December. Several inmates died during outbursts of violence in late December and early January. The U.S. Justice Department announced in February that it is investigating the state’s prison system.