Mississippi inmate becomes ninth from troubled prison to have died in January

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Mother of Mississippi Inmate Concerned About Safety After Prison Riots

The mother of a Mississippi inmate is speaking out about state prison conditions following riots that saw four inmates lose their lives.

A 26-year-old man found hanging inside his cell earlier this week has become the ninth inmate from a troubled Mississippi prison to have died this month.

Joshua Norman, who was serving time for armed robbery, was discovered dead Sunday inside his one-man cell at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, the state’s department of corrections said.

The Sunflower County coroner said no foul play is suspected in Norman’s death and an investigation is ongoing.

MISSISSIPPI MOVES TO CLOSE PRISON UNIT BESIEGED BY DEATHS, VIOLENCE

Miss. Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday said he will take steps to close part of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman after a series of deaths and unsanitary living conditions. (AP)

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced the day after the apparent suicide that the state will take steps to close the unit at Parchman where it occurred.

"We have to turn the page," Reeves said during his State of the State speech on Monday. "This is the first step, and I have asked the department to begin the preparations to make it happen safely, justly and quickly."

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On Wednesday last week, guards found Thomas Lee – a 49-year-old who pleaded guilty to capital murder in the 2014 death of a Grenada police captain – hanging inside his cell as well, the Clarion Ledger reports.

A total of 12 inmates have died in Mississippi’s prison system since the end of December. Two other inmates also broke out of Parchman earlier this month but were captured.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.