Sheriff Phil Sims on Monday provided details about what authorities say occurred Saturday at the Marshall County jail, when a corrections officer was injured. Sims commended inmates in the jail who came to her rescue.
The sheriff said overcrowding and design issues at the jail contributed to the inmate s ability to grab scissors from a desk door at the corrections officer s work area and attack the jailer.
Sims said at about 11 a.m. Saturday, CO Melissa Woodall had opened the door to a holding cell to let a 21-year-old female inmate go to the restroom. Because of overcrowding and COVID concerns, he said, the jail is using some makeshift holding cells without restroom facilities inside them.
Inmates save life of jail officer under attack by another inmate, sheriff says
Updated May 03, 2021;
Posted May 03, 2021
Marshall County Sheriff Phil Sims speaks at a news conference on May 3, 2021, in Guntersville. (Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com)
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Five female inmates at the Marshall County Jail over the weekend rushed to the aid of a corrections officer who was being stabbed by another inmate, Sheriff Phil Sims said Monday.
The corrections officer, Melissa Woodall, opened a holding cell door to escort an inmate on a 15-foot walk to the restroom when the inmate, Emily Sledge, immediately attacked her.
“If not for the action of the other inmates,” Sims said at a press conference, “it is very likely Officer Woodall would have been killed.”