The Mississippi Department of Corrections says an inmate has died at a Jackson hospital.

The department said Monday that Robert Glenn Thomas, 58, died early Friday at Merit Health Central. He had been taken there from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. An autopsy will be done.

Thomas was sentenced June 18, 1993, as a habitual offender to 30 years for sexual assault in Jackson County.

At least 12 Mississippi inmates have died this year.

At least 106 Mississippi inmates died from late 2019 until the end of 2020. Several inmates died during outbursts of violence in late December 2019 and early January 2020. The U.S. Justice Department announced in February 2020 that it is investigating the state’s prison system.