Inmate Starves To Death In Prison

Eddyville, Ky
A prison doctor and two other staffers at the Kentucky State Penitentiary have been fired after a mentally disturbed inmate starved himself to death. James Kenneth Embry, 57, who had three years left on a nine-year drug sentence, was found dead in his cell in Eddyville in January. Embry started behaving erratically last spring when he stopped taking his anti-anxiety medication, and by December was refusing most meals. At the time of his death five weeks later, the 6-foot inmate weighed just 138 pounds. An internal investigation concluded that prison staff had failed to treat his anxiety and suicidal thoughts, and missed countless opportunities to intervene. “ It’s just very, very disturbing,” said attorney Greg Belzley, a specialist in inmate rights. “How do you just watch a man starve to death?”