Video Shows Guards Watched as Oklahoma Detainee Died in Cell
by Michael Dean Thompson
The Davis Correctional Facility (DCF), a medium security prison in Holdenville, was described by The Oklahoman as little-known. Yet, over the last four years, 20 detainees and a prison guard have suffered violent deaths at the hands of prisoners. That contrasts with the better-known maximum-security prison, the Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester, which has had only nine murders, excluding executions.
A review by The Oklahoman of the homicides at DCF shows that for at least seven the perpetrators remain uncharged. Hughes County District Attorney Erik Johnson said about the prison, “It’s like gladiator academy.”
The death of one particular prisoner stands out as preventable as two different videos show guards behind a closed cell door watched the murder. According to The Oklahoman, “Dustin James Patterson didn’t have to die.”
The incident started as Connor Whitlock, a guard at Davis, was performing the 2 a.m. count and found Darren Padron with his cellmate in a chokehold. Whitlock described Patterson “clawing at Padron’s arms and head. Trying to get him off of him.” Over and over, he asked Padron to stop. Whitlock sprayed pepper spray into the cell before calling for help, but did not enter the cell.
Of the officers to arrive at the scene, two took turns recording the incident for 25 minutes each. The first cameraman recorded as Patterson stood and pled for assistance through a narrow window in the cell door, shouting “Good Lord! Open the door, man!” They did not. And the incident went on to span over 45 minutes.
The problem, it seems, was a policy over handcuffs. CoreCivic is the Tennessee-based company that operated the facility at the time. Its policy appears to have been that both cellmates were required to have hand restraints binding their arms behind them. To get to that point, one cellmate must sit on the bunk or stand against the wall while the second places both his hands behind his back and through the food slot in the door. Then, they switch places.
Patterson managed at one point to push both hands through the slot. Guard Whitlock yelled out, “Where’s my cuffs at?” Someone handed him some cuffs, after which he commanded Patterson, “Turn around.” Patterson was only able to respond, “I can’t.” Another chance came but permission to cuff him was denied. Patterson pled in front of the door, “Please!” According to Whitlock’s testimony at a preliminary hearing for Padron’s charges, “We don’t front-cuff anybody. At the time, I didn’t want to take his hands away from him because Mr. Padron was not stopping.”
Padron’s murderous determination had him cycle through various choke holds during the encounter while the guards dumped 126 ounces of pepper spray and shot 30 pepper balls into the cell. An agent for the inspector general’s office of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) wrote in an affidavit for the murder case that Padron at one point used “a lateral neck restraint, pushing his elbow into Patterson’s throat as he lay prone and utilizing Patterson’s shirt as a ligature.” Forty-five minutes of that while hearing the victim beg for his life and they still did not enter.
Only after Patterson was choked to death did they enter. Padron had time to wash his face in the sink. After slipping on pepper spray, Padron complained the cuffs were too tight and they were treating him like a bad guy.
Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for Padron, but the 27-year-old who was days away from completing his previous sentence pled out for second degree manslaughter and 20 years.
The victim’s father is suing CoreCivic. His attorney, Jack Warren, said that the DOC provided a 20-page report to CoreCivic stating the company had violated state policies when it failed to enter the cell. He added that the state had also found CoreCivic to have violated its own policies. Nevertheless, “no significant changes or disciplinary actions were taken thereafter” at CoreCivic.
The DOC took over DCF in 2023; as PLN reported, it is now called the Allen Gamble Correctional Center. [See: PLN June 2024, p.12.]. So far, however, the homicides continue.
Source: The Oklahoman
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