Charles Faggart’s death, which prompted Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters to suspend eight corrections officers and one sergeant while a criminal investigation is underway, overlaps with years of scrutiny over the jail’s shoddy conditions, as well as high-stakes discussions among city officials about spending up to $1 billion for a new jail in the coming years.
Author Archives: Nichole Manna
Nichole Manna is The Florida Trib's Senior Investigative Reporter. She has been with the organization since 2023 and has covered the criminal justice system for more than a decade.
Nichole has extensively covered conditions at the Duval County jail and in 2024 received first place from the Green Eyeshade Awards in online investigations for her reporting of medical neglect at the facility. That series of stories was recognized with awards at the local, regional and national level. She took home the first place prize for a feature story in a small newsroom from the Online Journalism Awards in 2025 for her series, ‘Cold-Blooded’, which dissected a 1993 death penalty case and questioned whether the defendant received a fair trial.
Prior to joining The Trib, Nichole was an investigative reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas where she was a Livingston Award finalist for a series of stories about a neighborhood with the lowest life expectancy in the state. Her work helped get residents access to free pop-up clinics and they continue to receive help with food disparities.
She is currently working with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network to produce an investigative project.
You can reach her at nichole@floridatrib.org.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Man injured in ‘incident’ involving 9 Jacksonville jailers dies
The 31-year-old father who was hospitalized after an “incident” in the Duval County jail this week, which Sheriff T.K. Waters has refused to detail, has died, according to his family’s attorney.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Man in critical condition after ‘incident’ in Duval jail; FBI to help investigate
A judge on Tuesday reduced the bond of a Jacksonville man who was “seriously injured” after an “incident” at the Duval County jail so the man’s family could visit him while he was hospitalized, according to court documents obtained by The Tributary.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
‘Open for business:’ It pays to be an informant. Telling the truth is optional
It is no mystery why detainees will seize the chance to testify that they heard someone confess – whether true or not.
![Prosecutor George Bateh speaks with the media after a hearing in Kenneth Hartley's murder case. [contributed by News4Jax video archives]](https://i0.wp.com/floridatrib.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-04-24-at-10.17.56%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
George Bateh put 15 men on Death Row – and was rebuked twice by Florida’s Supreme Court
George Bateh was good at putting people on Death Row. Whether that was the work of a righteous prosecutor or a sneaky courtroom tactician is a question at the heart of the legacy he left behind after more than 30 years in the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
How a Florida prosecutor fixed a ‘weak’ case using a liar and 3 jailhouse snitches to send a man to Death Row
The Tributary’s ‘Cold-Blooded’ series is a seven-month investigation unraveling the 1993 murder prosecution that sent a man to Death Row on the word of a known liar and three jailhouse informants.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
JSO settles lawsuit in strip-search arrest that broke department policy
A man who was improperly stripped searched by police in the middle of a public street while bystanders watched nearby settled a federal lawsuit with Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and the city for $275,000, according to court records.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
After scrutiny, JSO adds medical staff to Duval jail to bolster inmate care
The National Commission on Correctional Health Care lifted the probationary status of the John E. Goode Pretrial Detention Facility in June, according to documents The Tributary received in a records request, which shed light on efforts JSO has not publicized to improve conditions in the aging jail.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Family of heart patient who died after Duval jail stay settles lawsuit
The family of a 54-year-old heart-transplant patient who died after a short stay in the Duval County jail settled a federal lawsuit over his death for $300,000.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Duval jail reports fewer deaths in first full year under new medical provider
A year after changing medical providers, Duval County jail officials reported a more than 50% decrease in the amount of incarcerated people who died in the facility.