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KEY PIECE IN ANY INVESTIGATIVE PUZZLE. THE DETAILS IN TONY MITCHELL’S DEATH CERTIFICATE ARE FEW, BUT POTENTIALLY IMPACTFUL. IT CLASSIFIES HIS DEATH AS A HOMICIDE, STATING THE MAIN CAUSES AS HYPOTHERMIA AND INFECTIONS DURING INCARCERATION, WITH MEDICAL NEGLECT. A CORONER SAYS THAT THIS IS DEATH BY HOMICIDE. HE IS SAYING THAT THIS IS DEATH, NOT BY NATURAL CAUSES. UM, AND AT SOMEBODY ELSE’S HAND IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. MITCHELL SPENT TWO WEEKS IN THE WALKER COUNTY JAIL IN JANUARY 2023. HIS HEALTH DETERIORATED AND DEPUTIES HAD TO CARRY HIM OUT OF THE JAIL AND RUSH HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, WHERE HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD. FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY DOUG JONES SAYS NOT ALL HOMICIDES ARE CRIMINAL, BUT MITCHELL’S CASE IS DIFFERENT THAN JUST A FIREBALL DEATHS. WHEN SOMEONE IS DEFENDING THEMSELVES. IT’S GOING TO BE HARD TO CLAIM THAT THIS WAS JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE DIED, UM, IN A CASE SUCH AS TONY MITCHELL’S CASE IN WALKER COUNTY, I DON’T THINK WE’RE GOING TO FIND THAT SHERIFF NICK SMITH HAS DENIED HE OR HIS STAFF WERE GUILTY OF ANY WRONGDOING. TODAY, HE SAID. RECENTLY COMPLETED AUTOPSY BRINGS US CLOSER TO UNCOVERING TRUTH BEHIND THE CASE. BUT DUE TO THE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS, I AM UNABLE TO DISCUSS DETAILS RIGHT NOW, JONES SAID THE FBI WILL USE THE AUTOPSY TO FIGURE OUT IF MITCHELL’S CIVIL RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED, IF SOMETHING WENT WRONG UP THERE AND THAT THAT DOESN’T HAVE TO ALWAYS BE WHERE YOU ARE BEATING SOMEBODY, NEGLECT, I THINK, IN MY VIEW, CAN BE A DEPRIVATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW. THE SIMPLE DOCUMENT IS JUST THE NEXT PIECE OF THE PUZZLE, ANSWERING WHO AND WHAT ARE TRULY TO BLAME FOR MITCHELL’S DEATH. NOW WE DID. WE DID CHECK WITH ALEA TO FIND OUT HOW THIS AUTOPSY COULD AFFECT THEIR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. THEY SIMPLY TOLD US THAT THEIR REVIEW IS STILL PENDING WHEN IT IS FINISHED. THOSE RESULTS, THEIR FINDINGS WILL BE TURNED OVER TO THE WALKER COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO DECIDE IF ANY CRIMINAL PROSECUTION WOULD BE NEEDED.