Man Dies Inside Cell Waiting For Trial On Death Of Infant Inside Freezer

Carlton James Mathis, the man responsible for the death of a six-month-old infant last summer, was found dead in his cell Friday.

The 30-year-old Mathis was “found unresponsive” and was later pronounced dead, reported the New York Post.

Mathis was scheduled for trial for the death of his son, Curtis James Oakes. The infant was found by authorities “wrapped in towels and placed in a garbage bag” before Mathis and the infant's mother, Amanda Gail Oakes, stuffed him inside a freezer in a hotel room in Dothan, Alabama.

ABC News said that Oakes died in Mathis' care after ingesting methamphetamine.

Mathis previously made an appearance before District Judge Benjamin Lewis where he was charged with murder and abuse of a corpse.

The suspect's death came in just days after Amanda Gail Oakes pleaded guilty for “manslaughter, abuse of a corpse and felony chemical endangerment of a child,” said The Times.

Oakes' guilty plea was part of a deal where she “agreed to testify against Mathis at his November trial on similar charges.”

The 36-year-old Oakes was sentenced to 99 years in prison. District Attorney Pat Jones said that the sentencing will “run concurrent with her receiving the maximum sentence.”

“This case has affected a lot of people,” said Jones, adding that Oakes' daughter also testified against her and that “will affect that child.”

The couple were arrested on June 4, 2018, after they were located by local authorities at a hotel in Bronson, Alabama. The Dothan Police Department was tipped by the Hall County Sheriff's Office in Georgia where the suspects “may be involved with a possible infant death.”

Mathis was shot four times by a member of the Alachua County SWAT team after he “pulled out a handgun in an attempt to flee.”

After their arrest, Dothan police searched a local hotel room where the couple stayed “when they passed through the state.” It was there that they found the body of the infant inside the freezer. Investigators estimated that the body was in the freezer for “roughly six days.”

Oakes also told investigators that they placed the body of the infant inside the freezer “when the smell of decomposition became unbearable.” She also admitted that both of them were under the influence of illegal drugs.

“This case is a primary example of how drugs can ruin someone's life and aid people in making decisions that hurt so many people,” Jones pointed.