William Hershell Moon, 74, died Wednesday at a hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced Wednesday.
Moon, who was serving a life sentence at the St. Clair Correctional Facility, had a history of chronic medical problems, ADOC said in the statement.
He began exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 after returning to the facility from a local hospital and was tested and confirmed to have the virus, according to the statement.
An exact cause of death is pending an autopsy.
“The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) extends its sympathies to the Moon family and his loved ones during this difficult time,” the statement reads.
Moon became the second inmate in the state who died after testing positive for COVID-19. Dave Thomas, 66, a terminally ill man serving at St. Clair prison, died April 16 after testing positive for the virus.
ADOC on Tuesday said four inmates who had been housed in the same area as Moon have also tested positive for COVID-19, and the area was placed on level-two quarantine, limiting those inmates to that area.
The entire infirmary at St. Clair remains on level-one quarantine, in which inmates are monitored for symptoms and have temperature checks twice daily, according to ADOC.
In addition to Moon’s death, ADOC announced four more prison workers have tested positive for coronavirus.
A worker at Elmore Correctional Facility, an employee at Fountain Correctional Facility, one at Kilby Correctional Facility and another at Montgomery Women’s Facility all self-reported confirmed cases of the virus.
The new cases among staff make 72 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 20 state facilities. Twenty-one of those workers have since been cleared to return to work.
Ten of 19 confirmed cases among inmates remained active as of Wednesday, according to ADOC. The department has tested 178 of the state’s approximately 22,000 inmates as of Tuesday, according to ADOC.
