In Walker County, Alabama, several jailers are facing federal charges after the death of Tony Mitchell, who was held for nearly two weeks in a concrete cell known as the freezer at the Walker County Jail.

The medical examiner says he froze to death. Meanwhile, Sheriff Nick Smith denies any wrongdoing and is seeking re-election.

What happened to Tony Mitchell inside cell BK5?

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excert.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Monday, March 9, 26.

Joining me to discuss why jailers in Walker County are facing civil rights charges are USA Today National Extremism reporter Will Carlos

and USA Today investigative reporter Gina Barton, who investigated Mitchell's death and the jail.

Gina and Will, thank you so much for joining me.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me.

Well, I mentioned the cement cell where Mitchell froze to death, BK5, also known as the

freezer, described this cell for me and what the conditions were like during the 14 days that led up to his death.

Yeah, so I visited Walker County back in December around about the same time as this incident,

this horrendous incident took place. And it was chilly. It was very cold. And really the cell is

just sort of through one doorway from the Sally court where they bring people in in handcuffs or people who are, you know, who need to be incarcerated.

And it's just a bare room. A picture a cube of concrete. That's essentially what it is. Now it's no longer used as a cell. It's now used for storage and the door is propped open, but of course, it was very

different three years ago when Tony Mitchell died there. And what can you tell me about the man

who ran and is still running the jail where Tony Mitchell was being held, Sheriff Nick Smith?

So this is really just an extraordinary story of a sheriff that can just hang on.

I mean, this man has seen so many members of his department charged with serious federal civil rights charges,

a big sprawling DOJ investigation into the way that he ran his jail.

...