State reports death of two inmates at East Mississippi Correctional Facility (Source: Raycom images) By WLBT Digital | December 22, 2020 at 4:25 PM CST - Updated December 22 at 5:06 PM
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WLBT) - The state is reporting two inmate deaths at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County.
Willie Knight died on December 20, at 5:45 p.m., at a local hospital, according to a report.
The 67-year-old was serving a life sentence for homicide in Jefferson Davis County. He was sentenced on September 25, 1992.
Allen Bullock, 61, was serving a 20-year sentence for child pornography in Adams County, according to the release. He was sentenced on January 16, 2009.
Bettye Bell talked to her son, Charoyd Bell, on the phone for just five minutes before he had to hang up.
During the Sept. 28 phone call she took from her home in Natchez, Bettye Bell learned from her son, who is currently incarcerated at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF) in Lauderdale County, that the prison was on lockdown due to some people in his unit testing positive for COVID-19.
According to her son, a lockdown doesnât mean much.
âTheyâre not able to social distance that Iâm aware of. Theyâre all co-mingled, be they have (COVID-19) or not. So thatâs not safe,â Bettye Bell said. âI donât know that (EMCF officials) are doing anything extra in terms of providing medicines or whatever to help. I canât say that theyâre doing any of that. All I can tell you is as a mom, itâs very stressful.â