What did he drink to stay alive? Prison guards suspected of murder after inmate dies of thirst

A mentally ill North Carolina man died of thirst after being placed in solitary confinement for 35 and having the water to his cell shut down by prison officials.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Michael Kerr, an inmate at the Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville, died of dehydration, an autopsy revealed. The 54-year-old had schizophrenia but was not getting treatment for his illness.

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The North Carolina Department of Public Safety allows prison staff to turn the water off in a particular cell if that prisoner is conducting a "misuse of plumbing facilities", and records show that Kerr had twice before attempted to flood his cell, on February 21 and 24.

"Whenever an inmate misuses the plumbing facilities in his or her cell, the officer in charge may order that the water to the cell be cut off," prison policy and procedure manual states. "The water may be cut off to prevent continuation of the misconduct or damage of the facilities or other property."

On February 25, Kerr was moved into solitary confinement, where it is unclear if he received adequate food or water.

Dr. Susan Venuti, from the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Officer, was able to see the autopsy report released on September 25, and wrote that the report left many key questions unanswered-including when Kerr had last had food or water. Due to this limited information, Venuti was unable to determine if the death was natural, accidental or a homicide.

"The nature of the dehydration, whether as a result of fluids being withheld, or the decedent's refusal of fluids, or other possible factors, is unclear," she wrote.

"Since the circumstances surrounding the development of dehydration leading to the death in this incarcerated adult are uncertain, the manner of death is best classified as Undetermined."

Kerr was a habitual felon, and sentenced to serve 31 years in prison back in 2011 after he illegally possessed and fired a gun.

North Carolina's prisons have been under scrutiny over its treatment of mentally ill inmates for a long time. In 1997, Glen Mabrey, a Vietnam war veteran with mental illness died in Raleigh's Central Prison from dehydration, after the water in his cell was cut off for four days.

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