Alabama denied parole to a 'dangerous' man who had been dead for 10 days

The Alabama parole board last year denied parole to a man who had been serving a 20-year jail sentence on an armed robbery conviction on the grounds that he was too dangerous to let free.

But as AL.com reports, the man in question had been dead for ten days at the time of the decision.

According to the report, 55-year-old Easterling Correctional Facility Fredrick Bishop was found unresponsive while incarcerated last year, taken to the prison's health care facility, and later pronounced dead.

The cause of his death still has not been disclosed even though it occurred nearly a year ago.

According to AL.com, the parole board was unaware of his death in large part because prisoners eligible for parole are not allowed to attend their hearings, which typically last mere minutes per case.

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Bishop’s mother, Dorothy Jean Bishop, tells AL.com that what happened to her son was both incomprehensible and entirely believable given how the state treats its prison population.

"They don't care," she said.

A spokesperson for the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles told AL.com that the board was unaware of Bishop's death, while also apologizing for any "confusion" caused by the mixup.

They also pledged that the board would "continue to take steps to avoid this and similar situations in the future."