COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida mother is demanding answers, claiming in a lawsuit that her son was killed in a state prison, but no one is being held accountable for his death.
As part of Tampa Bay 28's ongoing series, Crisis in Corrections, the I-Team is following through on its investigation from last year. Kaytrina Humphrey-Williams' son, 34-year-old Dennis Williams, was found dead in his cell in 2022 with severe wounds and bite marks all over his body. The lawsuit, filed last year, claims the other inmate, brought to Williams' cell, told corrections officers he killed Williams.
Florida man dies in prison after altercation with violent cellmate, death ruled natural causes
“My son died, and he shouldn't have died. And it could have been prevented," Humphrey-Williams told the I-Team.
The I-Team recently learned prosecutors refused to pursue any charges in the case, as Williams' former cellmate's release date nears.
The lawsuit, filed against the Florida Department of Corrections and several corrections officers three years ago, claims that Jaquaon Polk, who was also incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institution, should never have been placed in a cell with Williams.
"You have no idea, as a mother, to bury your child at the age of 34 and the way that my son died, and no justice has been done," Humphrey-Williams told the I-Team.
Williams was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He was serving a 15-year sentence at Columbia C.I. for drug charges and attempted murder in a burglary-turned-shooting when he was found dead in his cell.
According to the lawsuit, Williams was not alone when he died. Photos taken during the death investigation show the other inmate, Polk, was sharing Williams' cell at the time of his death. Polk was serving a 5-year sentence for armed burglary and grand theft of a firearm.
The lawsuit alleges that Polk was not allowed to be celled with other inmates and claims two corrections officers "decided they would place Mr. Polk in a cell with another prisoner so that Mr. Polk would start a fight. They did so for sadistic and malicious purpose."
I-Team Series | Crisis in Corrections
“They failed my son, Dennis Earl Williams, Jr., and they will state his name one day. In this life or the next. They failed my son," Humphrey-Williams said.
Humphrey-Williams believes Polk killed her son, an allegation included in the lawsuit. But the medical examiner determined Williams died of "natural" causes.
The I-Team dug into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's investigative report, which said the first officer on the scene said Williams was "lying unresponsive on the floor". Polk was "licking the floor." That officer said he then saw Polk biting on Williams' genitals.
The medical examiner's report documented "abrasions, contusions, and lacerations" and "multiple bite marks" on Williams' body. According to the lawsuit, "When Mr. Polk was eventually taken out of the cell, he yelled, 'I killed [him], who's next?"
"He said he killed my son, and nothing was done about it. Nothing," Humphrey-Williams said.
The medical examiner determined Williams died due to a ruptured dissecting aorta.
"Absolutely nothing was wrong with my son," Humphrey-Williams said when asked if her son had any health issues that would explain a natural death. "They ruled him having a ruptured aorta. That's equivalent to someone being in a tragic car accident when they hit something."
Humphrey-Williams' attorney recently filed expert witness disclosures stating that Dr. Kris Perry, a forensic pathologist who served as Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Georgia for 18 years, "...will opine that the relevant facts and evidence demonstrate that the injuries and death are consistent with a homicide, not a natural death."
The I-Team contacted the Medical Examiner's Office in Jacksonville to discuss Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelian Nicolaescu's conclusion in the autopsy report that the death was natural, and has yet to hear back.
While Polk was never charged with Williams' death, he faced a lesser charge of "abuse of a dead human body." However, the State Attorney's Office in Lake City dropped that case, explaining in a letter that "the victim died from natural causes" and "the State believes that the defendant's actions, while strange and tragic, were more likely a result of mental illness rather than a criminal intent to harm the victim."
The I-Team contacted the state attorney's office for comment about the decision not to prosecute Polk, but has not heard back.
"Nothing. He did not receive anything. And he's going to be released. Not one charge has been brought against this young man," Humphrey-Williams said.
As Humphrey-Williams works to shine a light on her son's case, it's the darkness, she says, she dreads.
"In the middle of the night. I hate when darkness come. Because I can hear sometimes the scream of my son crying and screaming for help. With no one to come to his rescue or to his aid," she said. “It could be your child. My son's life mattered. He was loved. I loved him. His siblings loved him. His daddy loved him. His cousins and aunties, they loved him. We miss him. He didn't have to die like that. Not like that.”
The Department of Corrections told the I-Team it does not comment on active litigation. However, court records show that in its response to the lawsuit, it denied most allegations, saying its "actions or omissions were not the proximate cause" of Williams' death and that it "acted reasonably and in good faith toward Williams and Williams was not deprived of any rights specified under the laws of the United States of America."
A jury trial is set for March 2026, two months before Polk is scheduled to be released from prison.
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Kylie McGivern works tirelessly to get results for the people of Tampa Bay. Her reporting has exposed flaws in Florida’s corrections system and unemployment process. Reach out to Kylie and our I-Team if you need help holding state leaders accountable.
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