Brittany Horn

The News Journal

The warden of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center has been placed on administrative leave with pay three weeks after inmates took control of a prison building and killed a correctional officer.

The Delaware Department of Correction did not say why David Pierce is no longer warden or "share additional details as personnel records are private," said DOC spokeswoman Jayme Gravell in an email Tuesday morning. Deputy Warden Phil Parker took over as acting warden Monday until further notice, she said.

Pierce, who began working for the Department of Correction as an officer in 1996, is paid an annual salary of $109,596 plus hazardous duty pay of $3,120 per year, Gravell said. He served as the deputy warden at Delaware's largest state prison for nearly 10 years before his promotion to warden in August 2013.

Prison and state officials have remained relatively quiet about the 18-hour standoff at the facility near Smyrna. Citing an ongoing criminal investigation by the Delaware State Police, as well as an internal investigation by the Department of Correction, the governor and the DOC have not commented on what led to the deadly siege and have not provided any recent updates about possible suspects or arrests.

Robert Coupe, secretary of the state Department of Safety and Homeland Security, last said that all 120 men housed within Building C where the takeover occurred were considered suspects.

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In interviews for a story in the Sunday News Journal, three dozen inmates and their families, prison advocates and former and current correctional officers said anyone at Vaughn could see the deadly standoff coming.

Inmates say they've asked for better programming, access to medical treatment and respect from correctional officers for years, while those working inside the prison walls say short staffing created an atmosphere ripe for disaster.

Those within Vaughn on Feb. 1 have begun to share their stories despite silence from authorities. Three maintenance workers who were cleaning a boiler in Building C that day ended up barricaded in the basement after attempting to save Lt. Steven Floyd Sr., a correctional officer who died sometime during the standoff. The workers told their account through Wilmington attorney Thomas S. Neuberger, who along with the law firm of Jacobs & Crumplar, is representing the three workers, as well as two correctional officers and Floyd's family.

Neuberger, on Tuesday, said Floyd's family was offended when Pierce did not attend the deceased correctional officer's funeral services.

"They received this as a mark of disrespect to the deceased and his family, as well as to all the uniformed officers," Neuberger said.

In a federal lawsuit filed last week, inmate Donald Parkell – serving an 8½-year sentence for burglary and conspiracy – also told the story of how he and two other prisoners crowded into a cell to protect a female counselor being held by hostage takers.

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State officials have said that the counselor, who survived the siege unharmed, was protected by inmates but have not provided additional details.

Once the criminal investigation concludes, two former Delaware judges will begin an independent review of what brought about the Vaughn siege. Former Delaware Supreme Court Justice Henry duPont Ridgely and former Judge William L. Chapman Jr. will lead the investigation, focusing on what prompted the takeover and what security measures must be taken to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

The preliminary report is due by June 1, in case the General Assembly needs to take any budgetary action, according to Carney. The final report is due by Aug. 15.

In the meantime, Neuberger has submitted a letter to state Attorney General Matt Denn and the Department of Justice asking that all documents and records surrounding the Vaughn uprising, as well as information about staffing, funding, security, threats to prison staff and other documentation, be preserved. He cites concerns about policies concerning document destruction, including those on personal computers and other electronic devices.

Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.