The first man to die in a recent rash of deaths at Hays State Prison in Penville, died after being involved in a fight. He was allegedly not treated at a hospital, and died in an isolation cell  several days after being put in lock-down..

Derrick Stubbs, who died on December 26, reportedly was beaten so severely that he died from those injuries. A authoritative, reliable source has told AM1180 that Stubbs possibly died a slow death which could have been from internal bleeding in his cell. His injuries reportedly were to the abdominal area. He was not treated at a hospital, sources indicate.

Other sources who did not want their names used said Stubbs was put in isolation immediately after the fight where he remained until he was found dead in his cell.

However, in the prison's defense, a former Department of Corrections employee who worked in administration at Hays said he doesn't see how an inmate could have died in that manner saying that there are procedures in place to prevent such situations. He said  the prison's medical staff should have been checking on Stubbs and officers do check on those in isolation at least once an hour, or are supposed to.

However, more than one source told AM1180 that in many cases, staff only look through a window and only check to make sure the inmate is breathing. Several sources say that Hays Prison is currently severely understaffed and much of the staff at the prison is "young" and "inexperienced."

In all, at least  four people have died at the prison in the past month. Three were murdered and one, a man in his fifties with a medical history, died of natural causes.

Those murdered are Stubbs, a 25-year-old armed robber, and Damion McClain, a 27-year-old armed robber, who was strangled in his bed late at night after the doors should have been locked, the last was Nathaniel Reynolds. Reynolds was serving a life sentence for murder in Fulton County.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that he was stabbed multiple times after being released from lockdown and while  being returned to the prison's general population.

Two Hayes Inmates have been charged with Reynold's murder. They are Hays inmates 36-year-old Richardo Beltrain-Gonzales and 39-year-old Leonardo Ramos Rodrigues. They were formally charged on Thursday. Reynolds died at an area hospital.

Inmate Daniel Ferguson was charged with McClain's murder. Ferguson is already serving a life sentence for murder.

AM1180 has no information on anyone being charged in the death of Stubbs. 

Media reports indicate that the families of both Stubbs and McClain have said  that they had received threatening phone calls from inmates asking for money before their loved ones were killed. The Department of Corrections said the extortion claims are under investigation but the they wouldn't discuss them.

AM 1180 placed a phone call to Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens that was unanswered and we were unable to leave a message due to his voice mail being full.  Also calls to other DOC officials have gone unanswered or not returned.  

With three deaths in less than a month, Hays Prison has a dubious distinction according to  Sara Totonchi, the director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, an Atlanta-based advocacy group. Three homicides at one prison in one month's time is unheard of.  She told the Chattanooga Times-Free Press "In the last decade we can't recall three homicides in a month."   Many say that the situation at Hays Prison is growing increasingly dangerous, not only for inmates but for prison staff as well.

* writer's note: AM1180 has gone to great lengths to provide accurate information for its readers and listeners. Since were were unable to reach DOC officials, and in all fairness to Hays Prison and its employees,  we have included information from a former employee in an effort to make everyone aware of the prison's policies and procedures in these types situations.

The Department of Corrections has released very little information on the deaths of any of the prisoners. Since Stubb's autopsy results have not been released to the media and may not be ready at this point, there is no official cause of death. However prison officials did say he was murdered.