Murdered inmate missing heart and another missing his brain. Both was housed in America's most corrupt Department of Corrections (Alabama).

According to  ABC 33/40 News who is said to have obtained court documents revealing another case of a deceased state inmate's body found missing organs. The body of Charles Edward Singleton was returned to his family missing all organs including his brain.

Singleton who was 74 years old died on November 2, 2021 in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections. He had been housed at the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed before he was sent to an outside hospital for care prior to his death.  Accordingto the statement by a family member, the University of Alabama at Birmingham's (UAB) Department of Pathology performed the autopsy. The family requested the body then be sent to a funeral home in Pell City. The funeral director told the family it "would be difficult to prepare his body for viewing" since it was already in a "noticeable state of decomposition." The funeral home characterized it as "advanced skin slippage."

The family according to the court filings was then informed there were no organs in the body. It was explained to them post autopsy the organs are usually placed in a bag and put back in the body. The family was also informed Singleton's brain had been removed.

Singleton's family requested UAB return the organs, but they reported they never received the organs. We have been unable to reach Singleton's family for comment.

UAB provided a written statement:

We do not comment on pending litigation. We only conduct autopsies with consent or authorization and follow standard procedures equitably for anyone consented to or authorized for an autopsy. The autopsy practice is accredited by the College of American Pathologists and staffed by credentialed physicians who are certified by the American Board of Pathology. In an autopsy, organs and tissues are removed to best determine the cause of death. Autopsy consent includes consent for final disposition of the organs and tissues; unless specifically requested, organs are not returned to the body. UAB is among providers that – consistent with Alabama law – conduct autopsies of incarcerated persons at the direction of the State of Alabama. A panel of medical ethicists reviewed and endorsed our protocols regarding autopsies conducted for incarcerated persons. The issue of deceased inmates missing organs was first reported by the ABC 33/40 News I-Team concerning the case of Brandon Dotson. His family learned his heart was missing during a second autopsy the family had commissioned in Birmingham. The pathologist reported the heart was not in the chest cavity so he could not complete an exam. Brandon Dotson's family files lawsuit over missing heart an Inmate whose family was outspoken over prison violence dies in custody. The Dotson family has filed a federal lawsuit. The information about Charles Singleton missing organs was part of the court filings in the Dotson case.

The Alabama Department of Corrections and staff members at Ventress Correctional Facility have not disclosed the whereabouts of a deceased inmate's missing heart for 50 days, according to court filings on behalf of his family, who are trying to retrieve the organ before it "deteriorates" entirely. 

After hearing that Brandon Clay Dotson had died in the Alabama prison on Nov. 21, his sister Audrey Marie Dotson and mother Audrey South said they spent five days trying to claim his body. 

When he was finally returned to his family, they claim, they saw "bruising on the back of [his] neck and excessive swelling across his head." 

Perturbed and unsure of precisely how he died, court documents show, the family hired their own pathologist to conduct an autopsy. The 43-year-old inmate's heart was missing from his chest cavity, the family claims in their lawsuit. 

ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS RELEASED A STATEMENT:

ADOC does not comment on pending litigation. Further, the ADOC does not authorize or perform autopsies. Once an inmate dies, the body is transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences or UAB for autopsy, depending on several factors, including but not limited to region and whether the death is unlawful, suspicious, or unnatural.

What if it was your family member? What would you do? Your brother, dad, son or daughter murdered or died and some salvage cut their vital organs out and sold them on the black market?

•  A federal judge ordered ADOC and Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to turn over documents concerning Dotson's state autopsy by Monday so she could review them. No state official could answer the question of what happened to Brandon Dotson's heart during a hearing in Birmingham.
• The ADOC is currently awaiting the court’s decision following that presentation of evidence.