MADISON, Wis. — A sixth inmate has died at Wisconsin’s oldest jail, lower than a 12 months after the then-warden and a number of members of his workers had been charged with misconduct and felony inmate abuse.
The state Division of Corrections offender web site notes that 23-year-old Damien Evans died Tuesday on the Waupun Correctional Establishment. The positioning doesn’t supply any particulars. A Corrections spokesperson didn’t instantly return a message Wednesday. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt mentioned in an e-mail to The Related Press that his company is investigating Evans’ dying however he had no data to share.
On-line courtroom information point out Evans was sentenced in 2019 to seven years in jail for armed theft and a further two years to be served concurrently for bail leaping. Each circumstances had been filed in Racine County.
Evans is the sixth Waupun inmate to have died in custody since June 2023. Two killed themselves, one died of a fentanyl overdose, one died of a stroke, and one died of dehydration and malnutrition.
Prosecutors final 12 months charged warden Randall Hepp with misconduct and eight members of his workers with felony inmate abuse in reference to the deaths of two of the prisoners, Cameron Williams and Donald Maier. Three of the eight workers members additionally had been charged with misconduct. Hepp subsequently retired.
In accordance with legal complaints, Williams died of a stroke in October 2023. His physique went undiscovered for at the least 12 hours.
Maier died of dehydration and malnutrition. He had extreme psychological well being issues however both refused or wasn’t given his remedy within the eight days main as much as his February 2024 dying.
Federal investigators even have been wanting into an alleged smuggling ring involving Waupun jail workers. Gov. Tony Evers workplace has mentioned the probe has resulted within the suspension of almost a dozen workers. A former jail employee pleaded responsible in September to smuggling cellphones, tobacco and medicines into the ability in trade for cash.
Waupun inmates have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging mistreatment and a scarcity of well being care.
The utmost safety jail was constructed within the 1850s. Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have been calling for years to shut it. Issues about native job losses and the price of constructing a alternative jail have been stymied progress.
Evers, a Democrat, final month proposed a multitiered, $500 million plan for the state’s prisons that features changing Waupun to a medium safety heart targeted on job coaching for inmates.
