Why are deceased Alabama prison inmates missing their internal organs?

This article contains graphic descriptions of medical procedures. Please read with caution.

The bodies of deceased Alabama prison inmates are being returned to their families, missing their brains and hearts, and there’s a question about whether it’s illegal for the University of Alabama and other institutions where autopsies are conducted to remove and keep prisoner organs without family consent.

In 2024 alone, reports emerged that the remains of three dead Alabama prison inmates — Kelvin Moore, Charles Singleton, and Brandon Clay Dotson, who all died in custody — were sent back home missing organs. ABC News says Moore’s body was looked at by the family mortician, who told his mother, Agolia Moore, that most of his organs were gone, which was also true of the other men.

Meanwhile, Singleton’s brain was also removed, and Dotson had no heart. The three men died between 2021 and 2023, and their families have filed a federal lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections to stop it from happening.

It’s illegal to keep organs without permission from next of kin

In 2021, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey made it illegal for organs to be kept after autopsies without consent from the decedent’s family. However, evidence has emerged that the University of Alabama — where the state Department of Corrections conducts prisoner autopsies — seemed to have continued to do it based on an apparent loophole in the law. When it comes to prisoners, if law enforcement officials say it’s okay, then that’s permission enough. Sources close to UAB told ABC News they kept organs since at least 2018.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for UAB told AL.com,

“[UAB] only conducts autopsies after obtaining consent or authorization from the appropriate state official … The authorization forms not only provide permission for the autopsy but also specifically include consent for the removal of organs or tissues for diagnostic or other testing including final disposition.”

Meanwhile, Brandon Clay Dotson, the inmate missing organs mentioned earlier, was autopsied at the Alabama Department of Forensics Sciences, and other inmates are sometimes autopsied at the Alabama Department of Forensics. UAB has denied it keeps inmate organs for research.

Where are the organs?

Some families, upon discovering their loved one’s organs were gone, asked the institution to have them back. Some were told they were missing — where they went is a mystery — while Kelvin Moore’s family was given a bag of organs, which they then buried with him in his casket.

Referring to the controversy and ongoing lawsuit, Kelvin Moore’s brother, Simone Moore said,

“You cannot just arbitrarily open someone up and take what you want out of their body. It’s just an atrocious act to know you’ve done that without our permission, and we would not have agreed to it on any terms. We don’t want this to happen to another family, and it could be anyone because everyone knows someone that’s incarcerated.”

Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed on behalf of the inmate’s family states,

“Defendants’ outrageous and inexcusable mishandling of the deceased’s body amounts to a reprehensible violation of human dignity and common decency … [T]heir appalling misconduct is nothing short of grave robbery and mutilation.”

According to Alabama Political Reporter, at least 190 inmates died in 2023 while behind bars in Alabama. All inmates who die in the state are autopsied.

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