Editor’s Note: This article discusses suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or text 741741 for the Crisis Text Line.
BRIDGEPORT, CT — Officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated man at the Bridgeport Correctional Center this week, the 13th person to die in Department of Correction custody so far this year.
Several of the deaths – all men – were people who had not been convicted of a crime but were awaiting their next court date. Some were awaiting sentencing; others died from medical complications or what a medical examiner ruled to be natural causes.
Some of the deaths are still under investigation and awaiting autopsy results.
In the most recent incident, a cellmate found the body of 41-year-old Said Khaled Youssef of Queens, New York, just after 7:30 p.m. on June 17 when returning to his cell, officials said in a news release. Youssef had a ligature around his neck and was unresponsive, so the cellmate alerted facility staff.
Corrections staff performed CPR until a local ambulance arrived, and Youssef was taken to a local hospital, officials said. He was pronounced dead at 8:38 p.m., about an hour after he had been found.
The Connecticut State Police and the Office of the Inspector General are investigating the death. The exact cause of death will be determined by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
Youssef was being held on several charges with bond set at $20,000. He had not yet been convicted of a crime, and had only been there for two days, according to the corrections department.
Last week, 60-year-old Thomas Harrison was found unresponsive in his cell at Corrigan Correctional Center. He was awaiting his next court date and had been charged with a parole violation.
On May 21, Daniel Serrano, 62, died after being in respiratory distress at Osborn Correctional Institution’s infirmary and taken to a local hospital. He was serving a two-year sentence for assault.
Jayshawn Johnson, 20, died April 23 in care of the Hartford Correctional Center, two days after being charged with murder. Staff determined he needed care beyond the facility’s capacity and he was sent to a local hospital, where he died about 90 minutes later.
A week earlier – on April 16 – Segundo Gamboy Guaranda, 33, was found in his cell at the New Haven Correctional Center with a sheet around his neck. Guaranda was facing a first-degree sexual assault charge and was awaiting his next court date. His death was later ruled a suicide.
Craig Whyte, 45, was found unresponsive in his cell at Osborn Correctional Institution on March 22 and later pronounced dead at a local hospital. He was serving a 33-month sentence for threatening.
On March 19, Jeffrey Yeaw, 59, died in McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution custody of “complications of small cell lung carcinoma,” with contributing cardiovascular factors, the medical examiner ruled. Yeaw had been waiting two months to see a cardiologist after a heart attack in January, officials said.
Just five days earlier – on March 12 – 29-year-old Christopher Root died of an overdose of fentanyl and alcohol at MacDougall-Walker. His death was ruled accidental. Root was facing first-degree strangulation charges and was being held in lieu of $1.5 million bond.
Four days prior to that – on March 8, and also at McDougall-Walker – Charles Fullenwiley died of colon cancer at the age of 67. He also had emphysema, and his death was ruled “natural” by the medical examiner.
Three men died in custody in the same week in February: Andre Desmond, 32, at Garner Correctional Institute in Newtown on Feb. 2; Noe Tavares, 40, at MacDougall-Walker on Feb. 1; and Clemente Giusto, 50, at Garner on Feb. 6. Desmond and Giusto’s deaths were medical and ruled “natural,” while Tavares’ death was ruled a suicide.
Tavares was halfway through his 30-year sentence for first-degree manslaughter. Desmond had been serving a five-year sentence because of his 2023 assault of state Rep. Maryam Khan. Giusto, who had been in and out of the hospital for the past month, had been awaiting trial for violating a protective order.
Carl Williams, 42, died at MacDougall-Walker on Jan. 6. His death was ruled natural due to cardiovascular issues, diabetes and obesity.