Third death reported at Waupun prison in four months
A prisoner died at Waupun Correctional Institution this week, marking the third death at the facility in four months.
The Dodge County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed it is investigating the death, which occurred Monday.
"We're still very early in the investigation. I won’t have autopsy results for a couple of months," Medical Examiner PJ Schoebel told the Journal Sentinel.
The Department of Corrections did not respond to questions late Tuesday from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Waupun, one of the state's five maximum-security prisons, has been the site of two in-custody deaths — one confirmed as suicide — during its monthslong state of lockdown.
In June, Dean Hoffmann, 60, died by suicide while in solitary confinement at Waupun in June.
His family spoke with the Journal Sentinel and questioned whether Hoffmann received proper medical treatment for his diagnosed bipolar disorder and if prison staff responded properly to his stated suicidal ideation.
Earlier this month, 30-year-old Tyshun Lemons also died at Waupun. The cause and manner of his death are still under investigation.
Last week, prison rights advocates and families members of those incarcerated in Waupun protested outside the prison, calling on Gov. Tony Evers and Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr to address ongoing concerns about the deteroriating conditions inside state prisons.
Waupun has been in lockdown — or what DOC describes as a "state of modified movement" — since March. This has forced roughly a thousand incarcerated individuals there to remain in their cells for nearly 24 hours a day, taking meals in their cells, no recreation time, the outdoors or the library, and limited shower access, according to advocates.
More coverage: Deaths, lockdowns and overcrowding. What's going on in Wisconsin's prisons?
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @Vanessa_Swales.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Third death reported during lockdown at Waupun prison in Wisconsin
