Ahead of the release of A&E’s “Exposing Parchman,” exclusively spoke with the mother of one of the inmates who tragically died inside the facility
A new investigative documentary will explore the reality behind an infamous Mississippi prison, known for its inhumane treatment of inmates dating back more than 100 years.
Exposing Parchman, which premieres exclusively on A&E on Saturday, June 17, explores the efforts to reform the Miss. correctional system led by a team of attorneys on behalf of the inmates at Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm.
The film, co-produced by JAY-Z’s Roc Nation, tells the inside stories of the families, the legal team and other influential figures across three years of legal battles to end the deadly conditions for those incarcerated at Parchman.
It also includes interviews with families of loved ones suffering in the decaying prison and delivers a never-before-seen look at the inside of the notorious facility.
(A preview of the documentary is below.)
The trailer shows displeased inmates suffering from the extreme conditions behind bars. The prisoners expose issues like flooding, lack of water and heat, severe filth and even shocking deaths on secret cell phone footage.
For many, these deaths hit close to home. More specifically, for the mother of a former inmate at Parchman who is featured in the documentary and also spoke with exclusively about her late son, Chadarion Henderson.
Cheryl Henderson believes the prison’s lack of mental health treatment led to her son’s death by suicide at the age of 27.
“He didn’t have a counselor,” she tells . “I had called down there several times and said, ‘Hey, I believe my son is going through a mental crisis. What can you all do?’ And guess what? No one could even give me an answer.”
Cheryl, who works as a nurse, said her son had only been held inside Parchman for 12 days before he died on Aug. 1, 2021, and within that time, she noticed his mental health quickly deteriorate.
“Every day, he was crying out for help,” she says. “I was like, “Oh, my God. It has to be something going on.”
According to Cheryl, Chadarion’s criminal past began in 2016 when he was arrested for stealing car batteries. He took a plea, received a fine and was put on parole.
But, one morning, after one of his many nights working a 12 to 16 hour shift, the father of three forgot to call his parole officer. It was that missed check-in that led to his arrest.
“Even when he was working those long hours, he came home, got them dressed for daycare while the kids’ mother was getting ready to go to work herself,” Cheryl tells .
During his time in custody, he was also drug-tested, his mom says, and that test revealed a positive result for marijuana.
Chadarion was eventually jailed for 13 months before being transferred to Parchman. Cheryl tells she knew Parchman was rough before her son arrived, but she had no idea how bad it really was until after he died.
Once I started reading the articles, once I started doing my own research and once Marcy, the lawyer, started sending me information, it kind of woke me up,” she says. “It really woke me up.”
Established in 1901, Parchman is located in Sunflower County, Miss., and is the oldest prison in the state with deep roots in slavery, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Making headlines in 2019, the maximum-security prison has been scrutinized for its inhumane conditions which have resulted in mass homicides, hangings and untreated illness among incarcerated people of color. Soon after, hip-hop moguls Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter and Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims advocated for change, and as part of Team Roc, filed multiple lawsuits, which prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an investigation.
According to a press release published in April 2022, the DOJ found that Miss. State Penitentiary violated the eighth and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Officials cited the facility’s inability to offer proper mental health treatment and failure to protect inmates from harm at the hands of other prisoners as examples.
Cheryl hopes to emphasize that, while those who break the law should be punished, incarcerated people also deserve proper treatment.
“They are healing,” she says. “They do not deserve to be treated like animals. It’s modern day slavery all over again.”
Overall, Cheryl says the whole prison needs to be reformed or shut down.
“If you don’t rehabilitate an inmate, nine times out of 10 when they come out, they’re going to commit the same crime,” she tells . “But if you have a prison reform to where they’re getting the help that they need, they’ll have a better outcome and be a better citizen within these communities.”
Meanwhile, Cheryl is carrying on her son’s legacy, describing him as a “loving father,” who aspired to be a welder and was more than just an inmate at Parchman.
“He was just a young child, made a mistake, ended up… It cost him his life making that one mistake.”