In the confines of Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, the life of 29-year-old Joseph Agee III came to a violent end on a Monday in October of 2022. Agee, a male inmate, was the victim of a fatal assault that transpired within the prison walls. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office would later confirm that the cause of his death was sharp force injuries.
The incident was officially ruled a homicide, prompting an investigation by the Alabama Department of Corrections. Reports from the coroner indicated that Agee was attacked by another inmate, sustaining the deadly injuries that would claim his life approximately half an hour later. At the time of the incident, it was noted that the number of inmate deaths at the facility for the year had already surpassed the total from the previous year.
Prior to his incarceration at Donaldson, Joseph Agee III had been serving a life sentence. His conviction stemmed from a guilty plea to a murder charge that occurred in 2012. At the age of 18, he was involved in a shooting at a gas station that resulted in the death of another man.
The investigation into Agee's death was handed over to the Law Enforcement Services Division of the Alabama Department of Corrections. However, details regarding any suspects in his death or if any arrests were made have not been publicly released. The circumstances surrounding the assault and the events leading up to it within the correctional facility remain part of the ongoing investigation.
