The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (commonly referred to as Lucasville) is a maximum-security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2023, the warden is Cindy Davis.
The prison is perhaps best known for its April 1993 riot, in which a total of 450 prisoners participated, resulting in an eleven-day standoff between rioters and law enforcement. One corrections officer and nine inmates were killed during the riot. The riot has been described as one of the largest crises in Ohio prison history and one of the longest prison sieges in U.S. history.
Composition The eastern portion resides in Jefferson Township, while the western portion is in Valley Township.
1993 riot
On April 11, 1993, 450 Lucasville inmates, including prison gangs (Gangster Disciples, NOI, and the Aryan Brotherhood), rioted and took over the L-Side section of the facility for eleven days. The prisoners' main concerns were serious overcrowding, mismanagement of the facility, and frustration stemming from mandated tuberculosis testing. In the Netflix documentary series Captive, inmate Carlos Sanders claimed that Muslim inmates refused testing because it contained phenol (which went against Islamic restrictions concerning the handling and consumption of alcohol). Investigations conducted after the riot found that gangs were also collaborating to murder inmates accused of being informants. During the riot, one corrections officer and nine inmates were killed. At the riot’s start, inmates believed to have been informants were beaten to death. Two inmates were repeatedly stabbed to death; a third inmate had paper and plastic stuffed into his mouth before he was strangled to death.
During negotiations, the inmates did not feel they were being taken seriously, and there was discussion of killing a corrections officer in retaliation. Though the group never reached a decision on the killing, one of the prisoners decided to act. According to the prosecution, Officer Robert Vallandingham, who had been taken hostage, was handcuffed and strangled with a dumbbell from the prison weight room. However, testimony by Richard Fardal, Franklin County Deputy Coroner, disputed the claim that Officer Vallandingham was killed by a weight, saying that there was "no injury to the voice box or the trachea" and that "Mr. Vallandingham died solely and exclusively as a result of ligature strangulation." Testimonies vary as to which prisoner was responsible for his murder.Pfeifer, Paul. The Lucasville Prison Riot , Supreme Court of Ohio, May 18, 2005. Accessed June 30, 2009. Over one week-and-one-half gang representatives met daily in an improvised leadership council.Lynd, Staughton, et al. Wobblies and Zapatistas, p.113.
The riot eventually concluded on April 21. Prison officials agreed to review the prisoners' complaints, which resulted in the prisoners' surrender.
Communications issues experienced during the response to the riot contributed to the state's decision to build an interoperable statewide radio system.
Lucasville Five Five prisoners described as the riot leaders were sentenced to death for their roles during the riot. They were known as the Lucasville Five:
Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar) (born May 31, 1969, in Cleveland, Ohio), on Ohio Death Row at the Ohio State Penitentiary, scheduled for execution on January 16, 2030. LaMar, who was unaffiliated with any of the above-mentioned groups, was sentenced to death in 1995 for his leadership of a group who killed inmates during the riot, including Darrell Depina, Bruce Vitale, Albert Staiano, William Svette, and Dennis Weaver. He was previously convicted of murder in 1989. Lamar denies his leadership and claims the State of Ohio suppressed evidence that could demonstrate his innocence. He was not present in L-6 during the majority of the riot, having been taken off the rec yard the first day by the State authorities and housed in the K block. Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos A. Sanders) (born January 4, 1963), on Ohio Death Row at the Ohio State Penitentiary awaiting execution. Sanders was convicted of killing Correctional Officer Robert Vallandingham. Jason Harry Robb (born June 15, 1967), on Ohio Death Row at the Ohio State Penitentiary awaiting execution. Robb was convicted of killing Correctional Officer Robert Vallandingham and inmate David Sommers. George W. Skatzes (born March 29, 1946), on Ohio Death Row at Ross Correctional Institution awaiting execution. Skatzes was convicted of killing Correctional Officer Robert Vallandingham along with inmates Earl Elder and David Sommers. He was previously convicted of murdering Arthur Smith in 1979. Namir Abdul Mateen (James Were) (born January 20, 1957), on Ohio Death Row at the Ohio State Penitentiary awaiting execution. Were was convicted of killing Correctional Officer Robert Vallandingham.
Following the riot, a class action was brought against the state officers, administrators, and staff by a legal team headed by civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein on behalf of the inmate victims of the riot. The state paid $4.1 million to settle the claims of the victims and agreed to a number of non-monetary terms as well, to remedy the overcrowding and mismanagement of the facility.
2011 related hunger strike On January 3, 2011, LaMar and Sanders began a twelve-day, liquid-only hunger strike at the Ohio State Penitentiary supermax prison in Youngstown, Ohio. On January 4, 2011, Robb joined the hunger strike. The three death-row inmates were living in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. Additionally, they were restricted from using the internet to access news databases, denied access to the prison stores, and prohibited from physical contact with family. LaMar, Sanders and Robb desired the same treatment as the other Ohio death row-inmates and protested for equal prison conditions. The three death-row inmates demanded that they be granted additional time outside of their cells, physical contact with family members and access to the prison stores for additional clothing and food.
At the time of the strike, David Bobby, the prison warden, concluded that he would not meet any of the prisoners' demands. However, by January 14, 2011, Bobby presented the inmates with a signed statement detailing the future policy changes. Due to growing public support and pressure from organizations such as human rights and legal scholars, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, the prison was under pressure to change, which Binghamton University Sociology Professor Denis O'Hearn has credited as playing a decisive role in the hunger strike's success. The three inmates' demands were all granted, including limited physical contact with family, daily one-hour phone calls, and additional time outside of the prison cell. By January 15, 2011, LaMar, Sanders and Robb had ended their hunger strike.
Death row The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is where condemned Ohio prisoners are executed; however, prisoners awaiting execution are not housed there on a long-term basis. Since the riots, the men's death row has been relocated four times. The first relocation was to the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Mansfield, with the majority of inmates being moved later to the Ohio State Penitentiary, a supermax facility in Youngstown, while a few remained at Mansfield. Most condemned inmates were moved to the Chillicothe Correctional Institution in Chillicothe in 2012 before being moved in 2024 to a new death row unit at the nearby Ross Correctional Institution. Of the death row inmates, ninety-three are housed at Ross Correctional Institution, eleven are housed at the Ohio State Penitentiary, three are housed at Franklin Medical Center, and one is held at Warren Correctional Institution. Any future cisgender female prisoners sentenced to death will be held at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.
Notable inmates +Inmate NameInmate NumberSentenceDetailsRomell BroomA187343Sentenced to death.Broom was on death row for the 1984 murder of Tryna Middleton. He survived a failed attempt to execute him in 2009, and later died in 2020 from COVID-19 before a further execution attempt could take place.Fred "Ahmed" EvansUnknownSentenced to death, commuted to life.Evans was convicted of seven counts of first degree murder following the 1968 Glenville Shootout in Cleveland, Ohio. He was sentenced to death in 1969 after being found guilty by an all-white jury and it was later commuted to life in 1972 following Furman v. Georgia. He later died in prison in 1978 from cancer.T.J. LaneA640654Sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.Perpetrator of the 2012 Chardon High School Shooting killing 3 students and injuring 3 more. Lane later escaped from Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio for several hours before being captured. Following his capture, he was moved to SOCF in Lucasville, Ohio.Thomas DillonA277618Sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 165 years.After being found guilty of five counts of aggravated murder in 1993, Dillon was sentenced to 165 years to life where he served them at SOCF in Lucasville, Ohio. He later died in 2011.James RuppertA169321Sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 10 years.Ruppert was the perpetrator of the 1975 Easter Sunday Massacre in Hamilton, Ohio, where he shot and killed 11 members of his family. He was found guilty of all 11 murders, but due to an error, a mistrial was ruled. A new trial was granted in 1982 and he was later found guilty of the murders of his mother and brother and not guilty by reason of insanity for the 9 other victims. Ruppert later died in prison at the age of 88 in 2022.
Executed inmates Below is a list of all inmates executed in the state of Ohio since 1976: