By Jacob Carpenter
Naples Daily News
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Charlotte County grand jury on Tuesday blasted corrections officers, but declined to indict any of them, for their actions related to the beating death of a Southwest Florida prison inmate in April 2014.
Grand jurors called the case of 46-year-old Matthew Walker a “tragic, senseless and avoidable” death at Charlotte Correctional Institution, where the career criminal was imprisoned. But conflicting evidence, inconsistent witness statements and other factors lead to their decision not to indict any of the officers accused of causing 11 traumatic injuries.
“Such impediments included the poor handling of the crime scene, the evidence, and the initial responses and reactions to the incident by the (Department of Corrections),” according to the grand jury’s presentment, which is a written report detailing its findings.
The grand jury considered criminal charges against at least six officers. Eighteen staffers were fired in relation to Walker’s death, The Miami Herald reported in September.
Walker’s death came during a late-night check of inmates’ cells conducted after lights-out.
A female corrections officer testified that she ordered Walker to put away a stray cup and magazine during the check, which Walker refused to do. The female officer called for assistance to lock up Walker for disobedience, and an unknown number of colleagues responded. Walker resisted, tensed his body and pushed an officer, staffers said.
The melee moved out of Walker’s cell and onto a catwalk, where several deputies responded and tried to handcuff Walker. From there, witness statements greatly differed.
“Almost universally, the corrections officers testified to this Grand Jury that Walker was not struck with hands, fists, kicks or by radios,” the report said.
Later, the grand jury wrote that “many (inmates) stated that the officers punched and kicked Walker around the head and torso area. Some indicated that radios were used to administer multiple blows to the head and torso.”
Walker stopped responding to commands, and he was picked up and carried to a sidewalk outside his cell block. A medical team responded, but Walker was pronounced dead within a couple hours.
A medical examiner testified to finding at least 11 separate traumas to Walker’s body, including neck injuries that caused him to die of asphyxiation. The medical examiner suggested that some injury patterns matched boots and radios, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report said.
While the grand jury declined to indict any of the officers, it lambasted their response to the incident. In particular, grand jurors criticized officers’ failure to recognize Walker’s injuries, seek adequate medical help, tape record the incident and properly handle the immediate aftermath.
Grand jurors noted that officers weren’t immediately separated in the hours after Walker’s death, allowing them the possibility to discuss their accounts.
“The basic failure to separate witnesses calls into question the veracity of their statements and their overall credibility,” the report said.
Twentieth Circuit State Attorney Steve Russell said the circumstances of the case warranted presenting it to the grand jury for consideration of criminal charges. In nearly all cases, the State Attorney’s Office makes the decision about whether to file charges.
“We just felt the nature of the underlying situation was one involving the prison, involving the inmate, that was appropriate for the citizens of Charlotte County to look at,” Russell said. His staff didn’t make any recommendations to the grand jury about filing charges.
The Florida Department of Corrections is expected to release a statement regarding the grand jury’s findings later Tuesday.
Walker was scheduled to be released from prison in March 2019. He had a lengthy criminal history involving drug, weapons and burglary offenses, among other charges. He was subject to 46 disciplinary reports while incarcerated, but he had no prior violent incidents with prison staff.