After Mobile prisoner's death, charges against fellow inmate upgraded to murder

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – After an inmate died Monday, charges of assault against a fellow inmate have been upgraded to murder.

Justin Gentry Miles, 44, was charged with assault for an alleged attack on fellow inmate Harry McClure at the Mobile County Jail last month. Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said McClure suffered serious injuries. He died after being taken off life support, the sheriff said.

“We had an inmate who was assaulted in prison, without provocation, by all indications not only from the investigation but from the video,” he said.

Burch said surveillance video shows Miles kicking and stomping on McClure’s head.

Burch said it was difficult to prevent violence in the prison.

“There’s not much we can do,” he said. “I mean, there’s not much we can do. I mean, you know, we’re significantly overpopulated.”

Miles was in jail for criminal mischief. The victim had been arrested for a probation violation related to a domestic violence charge.

Burch said the inmate population Tuesday was about 1,530, in a facility designed for 1,187. A few hundred of those inmates have been convicted of murder or are awaiting trial on murder charges.

“We do everything we can to protect them, but you can’t stop bad guys from being bad,” he said. “They have conflicts in prison, just like they do on the street. For those who want to be critical, I would like them to come and do that work for a while.”