Woman says her pleas to MDOC warning of gang activity, corruption in Parchman were ignored

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A woman, who wants to be referred to as “Ann Johnson," claims her incarcerated brother and other inmates knew of the Parchman riot plans back in December.

“He was the one that informed me of the chaos that was taking place inside before it got to be a big chaos,” said Johnson, “so I decided to reach out to headquarters. I went to headquarters three days back-to-back. I talked to different personal down in MDOC headquarters.”

Johnson later started a paper trail.

Emails dating back to December 20th give details of gang-related activity, guards giving keys to inmates and other claims of corruption.

Of all MDOC officials, one named Mike Hatten replied saying, “Your concern has been forwarded to the appropriate security staff.”

Johnson was worried. “In the back of my mind I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m late. He’s going to die. How can I save my brother?’”

As news of the riots broke out, Johnson has struggled to receive updates on her brother through MDOC.

She has been in contact with Sean Smith, Director of Corrections Investigation Division.

In an email, he mentioned that he planned to call Johnson on Wednesday.

“But if someone could have took what I was sharing with them into consideration, they could have brought an outside resource in to help with what’s going on,” she said.

Johnson says the latest update on her brother came from an inmate that claims her sibling has an untreated broken hand.

“No water, no light, he hasn’t eaten. He is afraid to come out from behind his cell and he’s been bathing, trying to keep his hygiene fresh with the toilet water," said Johnson.

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