Darren Rainey’s skin melted from his body by the time guards opened the shower door. He was dead, two hours after guards locked him inside the shower where water temperatures reached a scalding 160 degrees F. He suffered second and third-degree burns to 30% of his body, yet officials ruled his death “accidental.”
*The following story may contain graphic details and photos*
Darren Rainey lived with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses and battled an addiction to cocaine. After his ninth conviction for possession, a Florida judge handed down a two-year prison sentence. Sadly, Rainey died within a few months of his incarceration.
On June 23, 2012, the 50-year-old inmate smeared feces on himself and the walls and floor of his cell in the psychiatric ward at Dade Correctional Institution. Prison guards Roland Clarke and Cornelius Thompson ordered Rainey to clean himself. He refused.
Guards walked Rainey to the ‘special’ shower, a unit where inmates could not control the water temperatures, punching and taunting him with every step.
In the shower, Rainey refused to stand under the scalding hot water. He crouched down on the floor on the side of the steam-filled shower. Guards told Rainey he would stay in the shower until he cleaned himself, locked his stall, and walked out.
Rainey screamed, cried, and pleaded with guards to let him out of the shower. He shouted about how hot the water was. He asked them to get him out of the shower. The two guards ignored his requests and instead continued taunting him. “Have you had enough yet,?” one guard allegedly asked Rainey.
Two hours passed. Guards noticed Rainey had finally quietened down, prompting their return to the shower. Opening the shower, the guards found Rainey lying face-up on the drain. He was dead.
Prison officials called paramedics. One of the paramedics who attended to Rainey said he suffered second and third-degree burns to 30% of his body. Red patches of burned skin lined his body. Rainey’s skin peeled off his body when the paramedic touched him.
The Medical Examiner ruled Rainey’s death accidental, with the cause listed as “undetermined.”
DCI Inmate Comes Forward With Information, Prompting Investigation
Two years after Rainey’s death, Mark Joines, a convicted murderer and inmate at Dade Correctional Institution, came forward with information about the incident. Harry Hempstead then contacted the Miami Herald about the matter, prompting an official investigation.
According to Joines, on June 24, 2012, guards woke him earlier than usual with a special cleaning job. They handed Joines a bottle of bleach and ordered him to clean the shower stall where Rainey had died the night before. He claimed he found one of Rainey’s blue shoes and cleaned from the shower what he later realized were pieces of the man’s skin.
After receiving Hempstead’s information, The Miami Herald investigated the shower torture of Darren Rainey. Investigative journalists discovered at least eight other inmates had been subjected to shower torture at the institution. They also learned Rainey’s death was never investigated properly, leading many human rights organizations to become involved in the matter.
After a full investigation into the shower incident, officials determined Rainey’s death was accidental, caused by a combination of factors, including a prior heart condition, mental illness, and confinement in the shower. Neither correctional officer faced criminal charges in his death.
The investigation did lead to the suspension and ultimate termination of Jerry Cummings, the warden of the Dade Correctional Institution, along with changes in the way state prisons across the U.S. operate their psychiatric wards.
Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Darren Rainey’s daughter, brother, and sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Dade Correctional Institution. They accused the facility of “cruel and unusual punishment.” The family settled with the institution for $4.5 million in 2018.
Should the guards have been held responsible for Darren Rainey’s death?”
Rest in Peace, Mr. Rainey.
My deepest condolences to the Rainey family.
