RBPF launched investigation into death that was previously listed as “suspicious”
Victim’s mother: I wish I had left him on the street; I just wanted him straight
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The toxicology report on an inmate who was found dead in his cell at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS) earlier this month revealed that he died of blunt force trauma, Eyewitness News can confirm.
The inmate, who resided in the southern part of BDOCS, was found dead in the morning of November 1.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) has launched an investigation.
Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe said: “In the matter of the prisoner who was found unresponsive, we’ve received the autopsy that he died from blunt force trauma, so the police will now be investigating the matter and we’ll await what their reports are and whether anyone is charged and what they find.”
Relatives identified the man as Mikhail Miller, 28, who was convicted in early October for stealing and was sentenced to three months in prison.
Speaking with Eyewitness News, Rose Miller, Mikhail’s mother, claimed he suffered from bipolar disorder and became erratic and “unpredictable” when he did not take his medication.
Miller worked as a handyman at LW Young Jr High School.
But his history of mental illness saw him in and out of Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre.
Due to a moratorium on admissions amid the pandemic, Miller was sent to the correctional department to serve his time.
He served just over a month before his death.
“He really did need the help because where he is mental, he is unpredictable,” his mother said.
“When he doesn’t take the medication, he tends to get a little violent or aggressive.”
She said the family hopes to find some peace in getting justice for her son’s killing.
I just wanted him straight because persons was calling me telling me he was coming there 2 o’clock in the morning and asking them for something to eat, and I just wanted to keep him safe.
– Rose Miller, Mikhail’s mother
“I am hopeful that justice will be served. It is very painful. Like I said, his dad just passed and if his dad was alive, I would have to bury his father as well because his heart couldn’t take it,” Rose said.
“I buried him on Saturday. It was really painful. It was heart-wrenching and they did him really bad. It was horrible. It was hard — very, very hard…
“I used to go to work and don’t even want to work because I told them that I just cannot come to work. I have to take some time and my other son, he is having a very, very hard time. The whole family is hurting.”
Miller celebrated his birthday on August 28.
His mother recalled how happy he was on the day.
Sobbing as she spoke, Miller said: “He was very joyful. He was so, so happy. I could see him outside dancing in the yard, singing and telling the whole world ‘it is my birthday today’.
“Oh my God. I wish I had left him on the street. I just wanted him straight because persons was calling me telling me he was coming there 2 o’clock in the morning and asking them for something to eat, and I just wanted to keep him safe.”
Munroe has said the government will transform the prison into a “rehabilitative institution to align with its mandate” of housing inmates in a controlled, safe, secure and humane environment that encourages rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the general populous.
“Central to this reform will be human rights and consideration to family and community factors,” Munroe said.
“Incarceration is designed to be a deprivation of your right to liberty, not a deprivation or a restriction on all of your human rights.”
The correctional department came under the spotlight in October after Commissioner of Corrections Charles Murphy was placed on immediate leave pending an investigation into several matters at the facility, including the prison management related to a Supreme Court order and the release of an inmate, among other things.
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