Here’s a hot take: Every death in any sort of detention center is homicide, and has someone who can and should be blamed and have charges filed against them. Every single one. If you can’t find someone directly responsible, the warden is responsible.

If someone dies of a heart attack in prison at age 80, why did you still have a sick 80 year old in the prison? Who made that decision? The warden? The parole board? They killed that man.

If someone slips and falls down the stairs and cracks their head, who designed the staircase? Who’s in charge of maintenance? Why weren’t there covers to block sharp corners? Why was the floor made of concrete that can kill you instantly instead of carpet? Whoever made those choices killed that man, finding those people might be hard though so I’d just shift the blame to the warden.

Someone dying of any medical condition in prison is by definition murder by medical neglect. Like, even in the most generous case, like let’s say Jeffrey Dahmer lived to 90 and was dying of cancer, by the time they’re close to death they should be moved to hospice care, a hospital, or house arrest, because what is someone who’s weeks away from dying of cancer going to do to anyone?

Obviously if a guard beats someone to death that’s the guard who should be charged. But let’s say someone’s stabbed by a fellow inmate? That’s the warden’s fault again. Why did they have something to do a stabbing with, and more importantly why did they feel the need to stab someone? If you’re taking care of your prisoners needs properly they won’t be stabbing each other.

I cannot think of a death inside a prison or other type of detention facility that should not be prosecuted as murder. Maybe a sudden brain aneurism? Maybe?