Indictments show five inmate murders, assaults and other violence at a Tennessee prison

TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A grand jury returned dozens of indictments for five inmate murders, assaults against staff and inmates and other violence at a Tennessee prison, District Attorney Danny H. Goodman Jr. announced on Tuesday.

The Lake County grand jury returned 50 indictments in 19 cases involving violent acts committed at Northwest Correctional Complex, according to a release from Goodman. Some of those indicted include former staff members and inmates.

Those include murder charges related to inmates who were killed in five separate incidents in 2025 and 2026. The district attorney was withholding the names of those indicted until all the individuals have been arrested or served notice.

According to the DA, eight people were indicted for the first-degree murder of an inmate on Aug. 12, 2025. In another indictment, two former employees were indicted for aggravated assault, assault, official misconduct, official oppression and violating the oath of office.

Six people were indicted for the first-degree murder of an inmate on Oct. 8, 2025. Other indictments included charges of especially aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder, assaults on correctional staff and possession of controlled substances.

“Violence within the Department of Corrections has increased significantly in the past few years and we will continue to prosecute these cases to make the penal system as safe as possible for not only the correctional officers but the inmates who are serving a sentence,” Goodman said in a statement.

The Tennessee Department of Correction did not respond to requests for information about staff and inmates at the prison and the indictments.

Northwest Correctional Complex can house 1,776 male inmates and can house juvenile inmates who have been convicted as adults, according to the Department of Correction. In 2023, an audit of Tennessee prisons found that the department was struggling to fill open positions at the prison in Lake County and had a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers in that fiscal year.