The stress of having to deal with a family member in prison is already significant.

Add to that the unimaginable pain of having to hear your loved one has mysteriously died while in prison, and you take things to an entirely different level.

One family of an Illinois inmate has to deal with just that.

NBC Chicago reports that Michael Jefferson, a Chicago resident, was an inmate at maximum security prison Menard Correctional Center on a parole violation. Earlier this month, Jefferson, who had bipolar disorder, was found unresponsive in a cell and subsequently pronounced dead.

Now, his family wants answers.

In a graphic posting that went viral on social media, Jefferson’s family posted pictures of the man, wounds apparent.

The family also posted side-by-side photos — one where he is alive and well next to the swollen face and body of the now-deceased inmate — on their GoFundMe page. The family is raising funds for Jefferson’s funeral to conduct an independent autopsy as the county autopsy found no signs of trauma.

“When I got to the funeral home here in Chicago I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Jefferson’s mother Janel Charles, via the GoFundMe page. “My son’s face is swollen beyond recognition.”

She continued, “He still has blood in his nose, cuts in his mouth, a knot on the side of his head.”

She decided to share the graphic photos “because I want the world to know what happened to my son and maybe we can stop this from happening to another family.”

The Illinois Department of Corrections stated that the swelling and wounds may have been a result of the body’s “rapid decomposition.” Results of the final autopsy including toxicology and histology findings are still pending.

Charles is suspicious, and wants to know why she hasn’t received adequate answers in regards to the cause of his death. “Somebody needs to tell me something. My son was 27 and healthy,” she said to WGN News.

“Whatever went on in there, he did not deserve to die that way. He was a human being,” she added. “He had people loved him. I loved my son. His brothers loved him. He died like an animal.”

Janel Charles

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