Alabama to pay $250,000 to mother of man killed in prison

Published by Alabama Reflector October 10, 2024

By Beth Shelburne

The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against corrections officers who beat a man to death at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in 2019, though the department continues to deny that the officers used excessive force.

A settlement payment of $250,000 was issued on Aug. 16 in the case of Sondra Ray v. Roderick Gadson, et al., according to data from Alabama’s Department of Finance.

Before reaching the settlement, the state paid 11 different attorneys or firms a total of $393,000 to defend the corrections officers named in the lawsuit, the records show.