The Randolph County States Attorney says he is treating the Jan. 31 death of a southern Illinois prison inmate as a murder investigation.
Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker says he hasn't decided whether he will file criminal charges in the death of 25-year-old Jason Hall. Hall’s body was found in his prison cell at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester. At the time officials said Hall’s death was considered to be under suspicious circumstances. Walker says he has spoken with Illinois Department of Corrections internal investigators but has yet to receive reports on the incident. He says there is no hurry because the suspect in the death remains behind bars and is serving a long prison sentence.
The Department of Corrections has released almost no information about the matter. A statement Jan. 31 said only that Hall was found dead and an investigation is under way. State Representative Mike Bost of Murphysboro on Wednesday said the inmate who allegedly committed the murder was transferred to Menard from the Tamms Supermax Prison after Governor Pat Quinn closed the facility in December. Bost has been critical of the Governor's decision to close the state's only supermax facility. Bost says the wheels are coming off of the state's prison system and he expects more inmates and correctional staff will be either injured or killed because of the overcrowding and under staffing.
