The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia has determined Aubrey McKay’s death at Wallens Ridge State Prison was a homicide.
McKay died from multi-factorial asphyxia, the office wrote in a statement. OCME did not share additional details and a Virginia Department of Health spokesperson said the office doesn’t track the date determinations like this are made.
Stacy Carter, McKay’s mother, was not immediately available for comment, but previously spoke to Radio IQ about her son’s death.
“She told me all the head trauma he had, the black eyes he had, and that he had bruises on his arms and ankles from the handcuffs and the shackles,” Carter said, describing a conversation with a member of the medical examiner’s office. "But her biggest concern was the fractured Adam’s apple, and she wasn’t happy about that, so she opened up an investigation.”
McKay, who died in June 2025 at the age of 27, was set to be released in July of that year. An obituary called him a “lovable but stern courageous big mamas boy.”
State Senator Mike Jones, a Richmond-area Democrat, has previously worked on criminal justice reform. He said that while there’s scant public information about the circumstances around McKay’s death, he’s interested in looking into the incident and plans on meeting with VADOC leadership later this year.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch recently reported that Jason Cope, who worked at the Virginia Department of Corrections for more than a decade and attained the rank of sergeant, had been fired during February “in connection with the June death of an inmate at Wallens Ridge.”
Kyle Gibson, VADOC’s chief communications officer, wrote in an email that the department doesn’t comment on personnel matters.
“The VADOC is first and foremost a public safety agency,” he said. “The agency’s top priority is the safety and security of staff, incarcerated individuals, probationers and parolees, and the residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Fatimah Muwahhid is an abolitionist, whose husband — Talib — is currently incarcerated in Virginia. While she’s noticed a positive change in interactions with prison officials following Joseph Walters being appointed VADOC director earlier this year, McKay’s death reinforced the concerns she has for her husband’s safety.
“Time will tell what they do to correct these kinds of things, because since the death of Aubrey McKay, there still has been reports of abuse and all kinds of different things that occur — not just in the Western Region (where Wallens Ridge is located) but throughout DOC,” she said. “So, they've got a lot to do.”
A spokesperson for the Wise County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, where Wallens Ridge is located, said she wasn’t able to provide comment because of an “active investigation.” And the Virginia State Police, which the Dispatch reported was investigating McKay’s in-custody death, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.