18 Year-old Murdered at Lee Arrendale State Prison

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, March 3, 2004 -- Today, a letter was sent by the Atlanta-based law firm, the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) to the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) regarding a recent death and continued violence at Lee Arrendale State Prison (Alto) in Alto, Georgia. SCHR is urging the GDC to conduct an investigation into the recent death and continued violence occurring and to enact substantial reform to the prison.

Last week, Wayne Boatwright, Jr., an 18 year old inmate, was murdered by other inmates at Alto. Before his death, Mr. Boatwright's grandmother repeatedly warned prison officials at Alto that her grandson was in danger, to no avail. According to reports, Mr. Boatwright was lured into a cell, raped, and strangled. At least one of his attackers had a history of raping inmates. Though it is the most serious incident known about at this time, the murder of Mr. Boatwright was just one of many serious violent incidents at Alto in the past year.

"Prison officials at Alto have demonstrated time and again that they are unable to keep inmates – especially young inmates – reasonably safe from harm." states attorney Sarah Geraghty, of SCHR in today’s letter to the GDC. "The time has come for the Department of Corrections to intervene."

Georgia Department of Corrections officials have long since known that Alto is a "problem prison." Violence and lack of security were central themes of Reece v.Whitworth – a case that resulted in a 1991 consent decree that still governs the prison's operation. Unfortunately, despite oversight from the federal court, violence at Alto has only escalated in recent years. Mr. Boatwright's death comes just months after serious injuries to two other inmates: Brandon Williams was beaten – apparently by correctional officers – and Michael Golding was attacked, stabbed, and his throat was cut by another inmate.

These attacks follow many other violent incidents. Among the most serious –

• Tavarus Sanders was beaten – apparently by guards – while handcuffed in October 2003. He was struck in the face several times, his head rammed into a locker, and kicked.
   
• In March 2003, while working in a segregation unit, Woodley Ray Mosley was beaten unconscious with an iron bar by an attacker able to open his own cell door from the inside.
   
• Shane Prather was attacked with a shank in his own room, next to the guard booth in November, 2002. He was stabbed 15 times. Before the attack, Mr. Prather had warned prison officials that his attacker was a danger to him.
   
• Two inmates entered Willie Burns' cell and brutally beat him with state-issued steel locks on September 15, 2001, beating him on the head until he was unconscious. Burns required numerous stitches and lost four teeth.

It has become apparent that GDC and the officials at the prison are clearly unable to contain the violence. Many inmates – especially young inmates – live in constant fear of rape and assault. Time and again, during our investigation of this prison, we have heard Alto referred to by its crude, yet telling slang name: "fight or fuck."

"That Georgia's youngest and most vulnerable prisoners should be housed at such an institution is the most perverse injustice.," says Stephen Bright, director of SCHR. "Alto has been so fraught with serious problems for so long that shutting it down completely may well be the only answer. At the very least, we hope the GDC will remove all inmates under age 21 from the prison until provisions have been made to keep them reasonably safe."