More than 40 people gathered Monday in the cold outside the Suffolk County House of Correction to call for a full investigation into the recent death of a man awaiting trial and the closure of the eight-building jail on Bradston Street.
The group, organized by the Massachusetts Bail Fund, is seeking more information on the death of Shacoby Kenny, a 32-year old incarcerated man who died last week. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said Kenny died at a local hospital after becoming “unresponsive” at the South Bay House of Correction. The DA’s office said it is investigating the death along with the Boston Police Department.
The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment from GBH News. A representative had earlier told Boston.com that it also was investigating the death. Officials claimed Kenny assaulted officers and was acting erratically, but prisoners and their advocates are questioning the official report.
At the event, protesters chanted, “release the footage.” One spoke about a family member who had died at the facility, another spoke of concerns about loved ones still there.
Jasmin Borges, director of organizing for the Massachusetts fund, took over the microphone for seven minutes to reflect a minute of silence for each life the group says has been lost in custody since 2021.
“We are here to demand that South Bay should be shut down, that there be justice for their families and that everyone in South Bay and Nashua Street Jail will be released into the community,” she said.
Kenny’s death has reignited a “Shut Down South Bay” movement launched after the 2021 death of Ayesha Johnson, who also died at the facility. Last year, Reginald White of Dorchester filed a wrongful death claim against the Suffolk County House of Correction, and others, for their responsibility in Johnson’s death.
Johnson’s was one of five deaths reported in the span of six months at the facility that year, according to GBH News.
Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins also is facing federal charges of extortion involving the purchase of an equity interest in a Boston-based cannabis company. He has pleaded not guilty but agreed to take a leave from his position while the case is pending.
Tomeka Taylor said she attended the protest in solidarity with others at the event. Her brother Carl Taylor passed away in 2023 while in custody, too. The cause of death was a heart attack, according to the information she received from the jail. She said she tried to get more details, but was unsuccessful.
When Taylor heard about Kenny she said she immediately thought of her brother.
“It instantly brought back feelings of what my family is going through now,’’ she said. “Even though a person is incarcerated, it does not mean they don’t have rights.”
Michele Morale also joined the protest. She says she has two family members awaiting trial at the facility. “They tried to say he died at the hospital, but he didn’t. He died right in front of the whole unit,’’ she said about Kenny. “It wasn’t lockdown. Everybody seen it and they are traumatized.”
One former detainee, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, told GBH News on Saturday that he saw some 15 to 20 officers beating Kenny after handcuffing him. He said Kenny was left for 30 minutes to an hour before anyone attempted to perform CPR, and he believed he was dead before leaving the jail.
“His eyes roll over and he dead and they was still hitting him,” he told GBH by phone. “It was bad. They didn’t have to do 'em like that.”
Kenny’s death has prompted calls for more information from lawmakers and prisoners’ advocates.
State Rep. Chris Worrell, a Democrat from Dorchester, sent a statement seeking transparency. “I am once again calling on the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department to make available to the public all details of this investigation so justice is served,” he said.
Dave Rini, executive director of Prisoner’s Legal Services, said his nonprofit started investigating after hearing reports from inside the facility. “Staff misconduct may have contributed to his death, we are investigating this incident as a matter of staff brutality,” he told GBH News in a written statement. “Incarceration must not be a death sentence.”
