Mississippi inmate dies; was serving time for sexual battery

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi inmate serving a 30-year sentence for sexual battery has died in a Jackson hospital.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections said Thursday that Robert Tyler Jr. was pronounced dead Wednesday at Merit Health Central. He had been taken there from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. Tyler was 53.

An autopsy will be done.

Tyler was sentenced July 17, 2003, in Desoto County.

At least 23 Mississippi inmates have died this year, according to the Department of Corrections.

At least 106 Mississippi inmates died from late 2019 until the end of 2020. Several died during outbursts of violence in late December 2019 and early January 2020. The U.S. Justice Department announced in February 2020 that it is investigating the state’s prison system.