(AP) — Autopsies will be performed on two inmates who died in state custody recent days, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said.
William Sharp, 50, was found unresponsive in cell Saturday in South Mississippi Correctional Institution. A department news release said there were no signs of foul play, according to the county coroner. Sharp was serving a 10-year sentence after a 2018 conviction for attempted robbery in Grenada County.
The department said in a separate statement that Harold Ramsey, 62, died Monday at the Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville, where he was transferred from the hospital in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Ramsey had a chronic illness and was hospitalized frequently in the past several months, the release said.
Ramsey was serving 12 years for three convictions — aggravated assault and nonresidential burglary, both in Alcorn County, and two counts of grand larceny in Prentiss County.
Sharp was at least the 43rd inmate to die in a Mississippi prison since late December, and Ramsey was at least the 44th The state prison system came under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department after several inmates were killed or injured during outbursts of violence in late December and early January.