WALPOLE, Mass. (AP) – A federal inmate was found dead hanging in his cell at a state prison Sunday, three hours after he had been placed in a segregation unit following a fight with another inmate, the state Department of Correction said.
A correction officer discovered the body of Miguel Velasquez while making rounds at about 1 a.m. at MCI-Cedar Junction. Staff tried to revive Velasquez, who was declared dead at Norwood Hospital.
Three hours before his body was found, Velasquez had been placed in a segregated unit at the prison after a fight with another inmate, the Department of Correction said. Velasquez, a 33-year-old federal detainee awaiting trial, had been at MCI-Cedar Junction since October. The death was under investigation.
There have been at least 11 suicides, including several in segregation cells, over the past two years in the state prison system.
The Department of Correction oversees about 11,000 inmates in 17 facilities.
A federal lawsuit filed in March claims Massachusetts inmates with mental illnesses get inadequate oversight, contributing to an increase in suicide attempts.
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