State Investigating After Three Die In Custody In Same Week

by Donald Eng The New Haven independent

Credit: RDNE Stock project / Pexels.com

WETHERSFIELD, CT — An inmate serving a 5-year sentence for an assault on a state representative following a 2023 religious service is one of three men in state custody who died last week. The deaths are under investigation, according to state officials.

Andrey Desmond, 32, found unresponsive in his cell on Feb. 1 and pronounced dead at Garner Correctional Institute in Newtown. Desmond had been serving a five-year sentence stemming from the 2023 assault of state Rep. Maryam Khan following a prayer service in observance of Islam’s Eid al-Adha holiday.

That same day, Noe Tavares, 40, was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in his cell at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institute.

Tavares had been serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree manslaughter and had been incarcerated since 2010.

Finally, on Friday, Feb. 6, Clemente Giusto, 50, was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in his cell, state officials said. Giusto had been hospitalized in mid-January, then discharged a week later before being re-hospitalized two days later and remaining in the hospital until late Feb. 5, state officials said. 

Giusto had been awaiting trial for violating a protective order and had been in state custody since Nov. 24, 2025.

DOC Commissioner Angel Quiros

“My deepest sympathies go out to the families of those who passed,” said  Department of Correction Commissioner Angel Quiros. “These tragic incidents affect all those involved very deeply. I assure you that the safety and well-being of those under our supervision remains a fundamental priority.”