A fourth correctional officer remains at large.
April 28, 2022, 11:46 p.m.
• 5 minutes of reading
Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Email this article
Three Florida correctional officers have been arrested on charges of murder for the alleged beating of a prisoner to death, while a fourth remains at large, authorities said Thursday.
Christopher Rolon, 29, Kirk Walton, 34, and Ronald Connor, 24, were arrested on Thursday after months of investigating the fatal incident at the Dade Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade County, the Florida Department of Law said.
They have been arrested on a number of charges, including second-degree murder, conspiracy, assault on an elderly adult and ill-treatment of a detainee, prison records show. Information about the lawyer was not immediately available.
No additional information on the fourth correctional officer requested by law enforcement was provided.
Former Florida prison officials Kirk Walton, Christopher Rolon and Ronald Connor are seen in undated composite police photos.
The incident happened on the morning of Feb. 14 before the inmate was transferred to a Lake County penitentiary, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is leading the death investigation along with the Miami-Dade State Prosecutor’s Office.
After the prisoner allegedly threw urine at a police officer, he was handcuffed and taken out of his cell to the mental health ward, at which point officers “started beating him”, according to a statement from the law enforcement department. Florida.
“The prisoner was beaten so badly that he had to be taken to a transport van,” the agency said.
The prisoner, whose name was not released by the agency, was placed alone in the van. He was found dead during a stop in Ocala, more than 300 miles from Dade Correctional Institution, authorities said.
Aerial view of Dade and Homstead Correctional Facility in Miami-Dade County, Florida, April 28, 2022.
The prisoner’s death was caused by a punctured lung, leading to internal bleeding, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He also had “beating-related” injuries to his face and torso, the agency said.
The incident initially prompted the Florida Corrections Unit to leave 10 employees on administrative leave. An employee also resigned because of this, the department said.
“What happened in this case is completely unacceptable and is not a representation of our system or the Dade Correctional Institution as a whole,” Ricky Dixon, secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, said in a statement Thursday. “The staff involved in this case have failed, and as an agency we will not stand for that.”
Aerial view of Dade and Homstead Correctional Facility in Miami-Dade County, Florida, April 28, 2022.
The Miami-Dade Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating the case, is holding a press briefing Friday afternoon with the Florida Corrections Department and the Florida Law Enforcement Department to share further details on the criminal charges.
“Staff misconduct, abuse or criminal behavior has no place in Florida’s correctional system,” Miami-Dade Attorney General Catherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “Prisoners should not be subject to forms of justice in the back street that are in violation of Florida law.”
Add Comment