Charles Hobbs
Family photograph of Charles, courtesy of Scott Hechinger.
Charles Hobbs Jr. was born in Miami-Dade County, Florida and lived there nearly his entire life. His sister, who he lived with prior to his confinement, shared with the Washington Post, “My brother wasn’t perfect. He finished high school and went to a top-name college. He was a great cook. He made some mistakes that put him in a tight situation for a lot of years. He damn sure didn’t deserve to be treated so inhumane.”
While Charles was being held on bond at the Metro West Detention Center and the coronavirus was spreading throughout the state of Florida, a judge ordered that Charles be released to house arrest on electronic monitoring in late March 2020. Tragically, he was never released for reasons that have remained unclear and unjustified.
Photograph of Charles, obtained from Civil Rights Corp.
In April, Charles contracted COVID-19 and his health quickly deteriorated. He was placed in a large cell with other men who had tested positive for the coronavirus, with no medical care. His cellmates repeatedly notified prison staff and called for medical attention. In an interview with the Post, Nathaniel Brown, who was in the group cell when Hobbs became unconscious, said of the jail’s medical staff, “They treat us like they really don’t give a damn. How can you have no mercy for someone when their life is in your hands?”
Charles died in a Miami hospital on May 2, 2020. Charles’s sister learned that he was in the hospital when it was already too late. Metro West never informed her that Charles had contracted COVID-19. Family members later learned that he died of COVID-19 from a consortium of advocacy groups who discovered his death while investigating a lawsuit related to conditions in Miami’s jails. Metro West is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by medically vulnerable people calling for urgent release.
Members of the advocacy group Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C. organized a national vigil for Charles in May. Charles Hobbs Jr. was 51 years old.
This memorial was written by MOL team member Rachael Zafer with information from reporting by David Ovalle of the Miami Herald, and Radley Balko of the Washington Post.