DOVER, Del.- Gov. John Carney was asked on Tuesday during a news conference if he was disappointed in the fact that no charges had been announced in the death of a Delaware correctional officer killed in a February hostage situation at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna.
"I am. Yes, I am," he said.
The criminal investigation remains ongoing into the death of Correctional Officer Steven Floyd, who authorities have said was one of the hostages taken by inmates in the C Building at Vaughn. Two other COs were released and a counselor also taken hostage was rescued when law enforcement stormed the prison on Feb. 2.
Although an independent review of the hostage situation was conducted on the causes behind the incident, the Delaware Department of Justice has not announced any charges filed over the incident.
Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn declined an interview about where the criminal probe stands. Carl Kanefsky, a spokesman for the Delaware Department of Justice, said in a statement that the investigation remains underway.
"The singular goal of the police and prosecutors working on this investigation is to ensure that it is done thoroughly so that those responsible for Steven Floyd's murder are held accountable. Their job is complicated in this case by the sheer number of potential witnesses and defendants, and the fact that most of them are prison inmates," he said.
Following the uprising, Delaware Department of Homeland Security Secretary Rob Coupe, a former correction department commissioner, said each of the more than 100 inmates in the C Building were considered possible suspects.
A spokesman for Delaware State Police said a joint investigation is being conducted with DoJ and deferred to the attorney general's office for comment.
Wilmington Attorney Thomas Neuberger, a lawyer representing the Floyd family, offered no comment on the lack of charges but said the family has still not been told exactly how Floyd died.
