A Yazoo City man charged with three counts of aggravated assault has been tossed around between two local jail facilities for close to four years. His family said they want answers considering he has medical conditions and has endured “inhumane treatment.”
The matter of Calvin Williams was brought forward during a recent Yazoo County Board of Supervisors meeting following an hour-long discussion of housing Yazoo City inmates at the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility. The definition of Williams either being a county inmate or city inmate has been questioned. But with hefty bills associated with Williams’ medical needs, his family said his care should be top priority.
“I don’t know if he is a county or city inmate,” said Essie Bryant, Williams’ sister. “I just want to ask for accountability and answers for what has transpire, particularly over this entire time he has been incarcerated with his medical concerns.”
Williams was first charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in February of 2021, following a shooting at a former Shell gas station, located at the intersection of Fifteenth Street and Grand Avenue. The victim was hospitalized after witnesses said he was struck twice by bullets.
Following his bond release, Williams was charged with two counts of aggravated assault that following December of 2021. He was charged in connection with shooting two females at a home on Barnwell Street.
Since the 2021 incident, Williams has been behind bars for three years and eight months.
Williams was previously housed at the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility. However, he has been moved to the holding facility at the Yazoo City Police Department at the request of Sheriff Jeremy McCoy and Warden Jacqueline Morton.
As of press time, Williams remained at the holding facility at the police department. The holding facility is designed to only house inmates for up to 48 hours. Williams has been there for about three weeks.
“You assured me that you didn’t need to move him,” Bryant said, to Morton. “You said that the inmates take care of him. You assured me he was in the best situation in Yazoo County because the inmates were going to take care of him, and your staff were going to take care of him. You said he would be taken out to receive the proper medical care.”
Bryant said after hearing that from Morton, she was shocked to hear that Williams had been transported to the holding facility at the city police department.
“I don’t know what is going on,” Bryant said. “They informed me that the warden or the sheriff made the decision to get him out of the county. They have medical staff at the county. Why take him to a holding cell during a medical crisis?”
Bryant said Williams has several medical conditions, including a bacterial infection and body sores and wounds.
“They don’t have a nurse at the city holding cell,” Bryant said. “They don’t have other people where he has developed a support system. This is life-threatening situation you are putting my brother in.”
Bryant went onto refer to a previous comment made by Morton that some city inmates were becoming problematic at the county jail.
“That is part of your job,” Bryant said, to Morton. “If you can’t provide the care and humane treatment…if you are overburdened, then it is time to find a new job.”
Before being transported to the city holding facility, Bryant said antibiotics were prescribed to Williams after a doctor’s visit to treat a bacterial infection and skin welts. She said when she visited the county jail following that doctor’s visit, those prescribed antibiotics had not been administered.
“When he had to go to the doctor again the next day, that is when I called the city,” Morton said. “He is a city inmate.”
“The warden needs to tell the truth,” said someone present in the meeting audience.
McCoy said the staff at the county jail cannot provide the medical attention needed for Williams.
“He needs to be in another facility,” McCoy said. “The call was made to the police department. The whole reason we called the police department is because we can’t offer him the level of treatment that he needs. It is not trying to pass it off, but it is the police department’s responsibility to get him that medical attention. That is why we made the phone call for them to come get him.”
McCoy said the police department should begin the process of getting Williams the attention he needs.
“How can you ask somebody to come and get somebody to take them to a worse situation with no medical care,” Bryant asked. “You should come to the table together to make phone calls to get him somewhere else.”
Gann said he spoke with the District Attorney, who explained the process of getting a judge to issue a court order that could place Williams in a state facility.
“He was bound over, and he was supposed to be heading to trial,” Gann added. “But his attorney has put in for a psychological evaluation.”
District Attorney Akillie Malone Oliver told The Herald that Williams was scheduled to appear before Judge Jannie M. Lewis-Blackmon last Monday in motion for a bond hearing.
“The motion wasn’t heard,” Malone-Oliver said. “His lawyers didn’t show up to ask the court.”
