On this recent Thursday afternoon, alone with more than 150 inmates in the food hall of Holman prison, where chow has been served since 1969, correctional officer Kenneth Bettis lay motionless on the floor in a pool of his own blood, midway through what would ultimately prove to be his final shift.
By the time correctional officers rushed from all parts of the prison to assist Bettis and bring inmates under control, it was already too late, the fatal puncture wound inflicted on his temple by an inmate using a makeshift knife had taken the desired effect.
"He deserved it," said Cleveland Cunningham III, who admitted stabbing Bettis on Sept. 1 after an altercation over food portions, according to officers that arrived on the scene.
Bettis died in the hospital nearly three weeks later from injuries sustained in the attack.
While the execution of Bettis took just moments to carry out, the circumstances that led to his murder have been in the making for decades. After years of mismanagement and neglect, that have resulted in a stark increase in violence, all but one of Alabama's 15 major prisons suffers from inmate overcrowding, while all are also desperately undermanned, according to both currently serving correctional officers and state statistical reports.
This week the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new and broad investigation into the violent conditions inside Alabama prisons.
Unlike the prisons conditions one might see in TV shows or in movies, where the dangerous inmates have their own cell or share with one other, most Alabama prisons use large dormitories that house between 90 and 150 prisoners. Underneath large incandescent lights and large fans, single beds and bunks are just 2 feet apart, while rival gangs occupy different corners of the rooms that more or less resemble large barns. But with fewer and fewer staff, policing what happens inside the dorms has become an increasingly dangerous and sometimes deadly job.
"A prison training officer once went in to confiscate a cell phone from an inmate and after he got the cell they chased him out and told him not to come back," said a current guard at Holman prison who spoke to AL.com anonymously as he was not authorized by ADOC to speak to the media. "I have to ask for permission to enter the dorms and I'll leave when they ask me to leave or I'll have a target on my back."
"We have no real control," added the officer, who said that most inmates have regular access to cellphones, knives and drugs.
Another anonymous officer, who told AL.com that he was seriously considering quitting his job at Holman before the end of the week, said that he used to carry a knife while on shift until it was confiscated by prison officials. "All I have is chemical spray and a baton, and the inmates have knives, so it's no wonder we won't enter the dorms."
Because of the unsafe conditions, correctional officers have periodically gone on offical strike or simply not turned up for work, leaving prisons even more short of correctional officers than normal and staff vulnerable to attack. Guards at Holman prison elected to strike Sunday, citing increased violence directed at them by inmates who had become emboldened by the shortages, say guards. During strikes, correctional officers from other prisons will be brought in or on-shift guards will stay for overtime.