PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has filed a Direct Complaint against 27-year-old Muhammad Toure, accusing him of murdering his cellmate, 28-year-old Darshaquise Small-Duran.
Court paperwork alleges on December 29th Toure told investigators he put Small-Duran in chokehold until he was unconscious. Then Toure tried to hang the victim but said it wasn’t working. Toure then allegedly told investigators he put Small-Duran’s head in a toilet inside the cell. Then Toure allegedly poured more water on the victim’s head and stepped on it.
MCSO told ABC15 both inmates were housed under the maximum security designation, also saying:
“During the late evening of December 29th, 2024, Detention Officers of the 4th Avenue Jail facility found Inmate Muhammad Toure standing over his cellmate, Inmate Small-Duran. Detention Staff took immediate action and found Inmate Small-Duran unresponsive, so medical aid was administered until he was transported to a hospital. MCSO Jail Crimes Unit was notified and investigated with the assistance with the MCSO Homicide Unit.
A few days later, on January 2ns, 2025, Darshaquise Small-Duran was pronounced deceased, due to injuries sustained during the assault. 26-year-old Muhammad Toure was arrested on charges related to the homicide and remains in an MCSO jail facility. The Homicide Unit, now responsible for the investigation, is still investigating this incident.”
ABC15 dug deeper into Toure’s past and found he had several charges of aggravated assault, including one in 2023 in which he pled guilty to choking a different cellmate, Oliver Smallwood at the 4th Avenue Jail.
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When ABC15spoke with new Sheriff Jerry Sheridan, who took over on January 1st, he identified jail deaths as one of his priorities.
“The Sheriff is responsible for every one of those inmate deaths,” Sheridan said. “It’s our job to run a safe jail system, not only for our officers that work there but for the inmates themselves.”
Donna Leone Hamm is the Executive Director of Middle Ground Prison Reform and has been advocating for the constitutional rights of inmates for decades. She said Duran’s death was preventable.
“He had a right to rely on the due diligence of jail officials to place him in a safe environment and keep him in a safe environment,” Hamm said. “And they failed him miserably!”
