Former prison guards charged in connection with inmate’s death

ATLANTA – Two former correctional officers at Augusta State Medical Prison have been indicted in connection with the death of an inmate in 2020.

Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips are charged with violating the inmate’s constitutional rights by showing deliberate indifference to a fire in his cell that caused his death.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury this week, alleges that on Oct. 28, 2020, the two officers noticed a smoldering fire in the inmate’s cell.

Rather than putting out the fire, evacuating the inmate from his cell, or calling a fire emergency over the radio, the officers are accused of leaving the inmate in the locked cell for several hours while he slowly died from smoke inhalation.

The indictment further charges Roberson with falsifying a logbook to cover