One more COVID-19 death announced at Florida Panhandle prison, bringing state’s toll to 9

Samantha J. Gross
·2 min read

Nine inmates in Florida’s state prison system have died of COVID-19, seven of whom were incarcerated at a privately managed prison near Pensacola.

Larry Lay, 73, died of COVID-19 Thursday at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, according to Jeff Martin, the director of the medical examiner’s office that oversees Escambia County.

Lay was serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder at Blackwater River Correctional Facility, operated by the Geo Group.

So far, seven inmates have died at Blackwater, one at Sumter Correctional Institution and one at an unknown facility.

As of Friday evening, 11 workers and 48 inmates at Blackwater had tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. The outbreak of cases at Blackwater was first reported on March 30, when corrections officials said two workers at the prison had tested positive for COVID-19.

The first inmate deaths there weren’t acknowledged by the Department of Corrections for six days — and only after a news organization revealed them.

To date, 575 inmates had been diagnosed with the disease. Twenty inmates have been put in medical isolation after showing symptoms, and 4,557 more are in medical quarantine, meaning they had close contact with a person who has tested positive or exhibited symptoms.

In total, 3,288 tests have been conducted. Of those, 1,928 had come up negative, and 786 were awaiting results. The News Service of Florida reported Friday that the test count includes re-tests, making it unclear how many individual inmates have undergone testing.

Statewide, 187 staffers have come down with the virus, many of them in state prisons run by private contractors. With hundreds more out sick, according to state lawmakers who have seen sick leave numbers, the Department of Corrections has lowered the minimum age to be a corrections officer and is offering $1,000 bonuses for new recruits.

According to the UCLA Behind Bars prison tracking project, Florida falls behind Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey and Texas in state prison inmate deaths.