In 2012, four prison guards at the Dade Correctional Institute in Florida trapped an inmate in a shower with 180 degree water for two hours, resulting in his death. Though the guards were directly responsible for the death of the man in their care, the State attorney concluded more than 4 years later that they would not be seeking charges against the guards.
The guards’ victim was 50-year-old schizophrenic man Darren Rainey who was serving time for cocaine possession. Inmates who witnessed the event said that the guards had rigged the shower so that only they, not Rainey, could control the shower’s temperature and intensity. They said that Rainey could be heard beating against the shower door and begging to be released.
After his excruciating shower torture, nurses who examined Rainey’s body found that he had burns on more than 90 percent of his body. His skin, nurses said, fell off when they touched him.
The Miami-Dade medical examiner concluded that Rainey’s death was due to “complications from schizophrenia, heart disease and confinement in the shower.”
Despite this conclusion, and evidence provided by the nurse, Miami-Dade defended the guards and argued that the “shower itself was neither dangerous nor unsafe.” Additionally, the state Attorney argued that there was no evidence to show that the inmates “well-being was grossly disregarded,” by prison guards.
As for the inmate witnesses’ testimony? Prosecutors called it “unreliable”
Rainey’s family says that they are incredibly disappointed at the decision by the state. As usual, it appears that justice will not be reached in a case of gross torture and murder at the hands of those in power.
