A third inmate locked up at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility has passed away in the month of July.
Lauderdale County Coroner Stella McMahan confirms that 59-year-old Clarence Gillie died at the detention center in Meridian on Friday. Gillie was found unresponsive in his cell early Friday morning. He is reported to have passed away shortly after medical staff began to treat him.
Gillie was incarcerated in August 1988 and sentenced to a combined 62 years in prison for separate charges of burglary, escaping authorities, and armed robbery. His tentative release date was scheduled for September 26, 2042. Gillie’s body will now be sent to the state crime lab in Pearl for an autopsy.
Earlier this month, officials confirmed that Robert Simmons died at the prison and William Hill was found unresponsive in his cell a mere five days later. Medical staff at the detention center in Meridian attempted life-saving measures on Hill, but he was ultimately transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
According to the Natchez Democrat, Hill was sentenced in Adams County to 10 years for robbery and five years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon back in 2016. He was seven years away from his scheduled release. Information surrounding Simmons’ detainment was not immediately available.
Details surrounding all three deaths remain slim.
