Connecticut Prison Inmate Found Hanging With COVID-19 Face Mask
32-year-old Daniel Ocasio, a prison inmate at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correction Center in Montville, Connecticut, was found hanging in his cell on Wednesday (Aug 12), using a COVID-19 face mask.
Ocasio — whose bond was set at $10,000 and who had been serving a sentence for a third-degree burglary charge since August 5, just a week prior to his death — hanged himself using the ligature from the cloth masks issued to all inmates at the center. Connecticut Department of Correction spokesperson Andrius Banevicius says, “The ligature was made from the cloth mask issued to the offender population to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.”
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Prison officials attempted to rescue Ocasio before he was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has called for a “full investigation” into the Department of Corrections, following Ocasio’s death. Additionally, his passing arrives as the prison population proves to be at an elevated risk of contracting the novel virus. Over 1,300 inmates in Connecticut prisons have tested positive since the outbreak began in the U.S.
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