‘He Didn't Have to Die': Family demands answers after inmate found dead weeks before release
A Georgia prison inmate, just weeks away from his release date, is dead, and now his family wants to know why.
Dominique Cole died on Sunday inside the Wilcox State Prison.
'And within nine days, my son was dead,' Resley Cole told Channel 2's Audrey Washington.
Cole's family said just days after the Department of Corrections transferred Cole from a mental health facility in Johnson County to the Wilcox State Prison, south of Macon, the 37-year-old was dead.
'It's heartbreaking. It's like he was taken from us twice,' Cole's uncle John-Paul Moore said.
'If the state knew that he had a mental health problem and that he has ASPD, why was he put back in a regular facility?' Resley Cole said.
ASPD stands for antisocial personality disorder.
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Resley Cole said he learned his son died when the warden at the prison called on Sunday.
'Saying my son had an encounter with a different inmate and that he did not survive,' he said.
Resley Cole said though the warden told him another inmate attacked his son, he still wants to know for sure and why.
He said his pleas for information have gone unanswered.
'I have not heard from them since,' he said.
Washington reached out to the Georgia Department of Corrections. A spokesperson confirmed that Cole's body was sent to the GBI crime lab to determine how he died.
Channel 2 Action News has also filed an open records request to get more information about Cole's death.
'He had two beautiful daughters. Two daughters that he was going to have a future with,' Resley Moore said. 'He didn't have to die.'
Representatives with the GDC said that because the investigation is ongoing, they cannot release too many details at this time.
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