Sheriff’s Department Remains Silent About Death
Durham, NC – A man incarcerated in the Durham County Detention Facility died in his cell on Tuesday, January 19 at approximately 5:30 am. The sheriff’s office has not made this death known to the public. According to those who were incarcerated with the man, his name is Matthew McCain. Eyewitnesses have reported that other inmates in Pod 3D were aware of McCain’s physical distress and pressed the emergency buttons in their cells several times, but their calls for help were ignored by Officer Boria, the detention officer on duty in Pod 3D that morning. McCain was not given medical attention and died as a result. His body remained in the cell for two hours until the coroner arrived at approximately 7:40 am.
Inmates have reported that Officer Boria has ignored emergency call buttons in the past. While Boria bears responsibility in McCain’s death, this tragedy occurred within a widespread system of abuse in the Durham County Jail. Inside-Outside Alliance has heard many reports over the past few years which point to rampant medical neglect inside the jail, with prisoners routinely being denied care, including basic medical procedures and prescription medications. Inside-Outside Alliance has been forced, on several occasions, to publicly pressure Sheriff Andrews and his staff so that inmates can receive basic medical procedures. Detainees pay $20 for every medical visit, which is four times as much as a medical visit in a state prison. Medical care inside the jail is provided by Correct Care Solutions, a private healthcare corporation that is currently being sued in connection with the death of a Forsyth County inmate.
As of the writing of this release, Sheriff Andrews has not released any information to the public about this criminally negligent homicide committed by his staff. In recent months, public pressure has been mounting for more transparency at the jail and for a community-based investigation into human rights abuses occurring there. Sheriff Andrews has insisted that inmates’ health and safety in detention is his highest priority. Yet not only has he kept Matthew McCain’s death a secret, but he has deliberately misled the public, listing McCain as “out of custody” due to “general release” on the jail’s website. Even as McCain’s body was lying dead on the floor of the Durham County jail, Sheriff Andrews and his staff appear to have been plotting to make it look as though he had simply been released. This is unacceptable and must be challenged by the public and the press.
Finally, it is important to note that this act of violence has taken place amid a nationwide onslaught of police murders and jail deaths in a country marked by a deep history of racist state violence. The same structure that killed Sandra Bland and LaQuan McDonald has taken yet another life in the Durham County Jail, and just as lynch mobs used to leave their victims’ bodies exposed as a mechanism of terror, Durham detention staff left another body where it lay for over two hours.
UPDATE: This post has been updated with Matthew McCain’s name in the hopes that his friends, family, and all those who knew him might be able to join in demanding justice for his death.
Amplify Voices Inside 
Thank you for exposing Mr McCain’s death. From Allah we come to Allah we return.
My father was a victim of this last year January 10,2015 in the durham county jail I’ve heard from people that knew him and was locked up at the same time he was that he was screaming he “could not breathe” and banging on the cell no one came too help him , the officers of Durham county jail told me that he collapsed and died in the cell! I have yet til this date received justice!
Absolutely dispicable! If a correction officer doesn’t want to do their job, or is unable to do their job, time to leave and take the obviously incompetent sheriff with you!
The citizens of Durham was forewarned about Sheriff Michael Andrew’s nefarious ways…
Durham county jail has been doing crooket things like this for years.The whites look out for the whites, blacks are trained to mistreat there race.eightier that or no job!!!! Sgt thaton, and others who are walking around like they God are abusing there power!!! Fire him? they all work together to hide issues!!!! I have experiences a similar issue just like that? Cause I was asking for help! Told to shut up cause I wouldnt, I was place in the hole refused care, ignored by officer of the jail…where I was then transfer to durham regional hospital the next day after been found shaking on the floor in the hole..I’m mental health!!! The nurse’s at Durham county jail arent there to help you..they only want to give u a non aspirin Pill which u will have to pay $20 ,don’t have the cash when your family do send I money it’s tooling out first…now the same Pill is given to inmates for free in there blocks..smh!!!! it’s a shame all my prayers goes out to the family..
Dcj may slip threw the crack once but not twice!!!!. They need real nurse’s and officers who care…
There is no need of intercom in cells if officers are going to avoid them..
No need to hire nurse’s if they not tryna save a life..
Don’t tell me white man’s on the first black man to murder somebody I don’t buy that you can sit down with that crap all you want people tired of hearing it and black people that are doing that the other black people are just as just to blame as white people are so don’t say it’s a white people making black people do it
He should be fired that doesn’t make any since to deny medical treatment to someone in need and the jail should be sued as well because of the employees not following protocols and not going to see what was going on after the inmates repeatedly pressed the emergency button and noone came to the rescue and didn’t even check to see if everything was ok that was wrong on their part as well.
Durham county medical is very negligent& Incompetent,I am serving weekends in jail & experienced,some incompetence myself &have left grievances on their Kiosk,which I know they don’t pay attention to,I am Insulin dependent&Benn doing weekends since October,this pass weekend they had no records of my medical needs,that is unacceptable &needs to be shown some attention,they treat all inmates the same have you in holding cells all night before you see a Nurse,which is unacceptable,one weekend my blood sugar dropped to 32&they gave me two glucose tablets &said check him in an hour , total incompetence ,I could have been dead in an hour,so after All I remember is waking up in a wheelchair drinking juice,like I was suppose to receive in the beginning or snack bags for Insulin dependent Individuals,they are totally incompentent,,&I have a couple of more Incidents, they are going to kill someone else!!