Initial Suspicions Discounted—

Garner Prison Inmate Dies Of Natural Causes

By Andrew Gorosko

The death of a Garner Correctional Institution inmate on December 31, whose expiration was initially considered suspicious by state police investigators, has been ruled a death due to natural causes.

 On December 31 at approximately 1:30 pm, state Department of Correction (DOC) staffers notified state police at the Troop A barracks in Southbury that an inmate had been found in the shower area of the prison’s medical wing suffering from a head injury, according to state police.

Inmate Gilbert Soto, 50, then received emergency medical care at Garner, after which he was transported to the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, where shortly after his arrival, he was pronounced dead, according to Lieutenant J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman.

Correction officers secured the shower area where Soto had been found, after which the state police’s Western District Major Crime Squad went to Garner to investigate what was then considered to be a suspicious death.

Lt Vance said January 5 that the state police investigation into Soto’s death has concluded, adding that there is “no criminal aspect to it.”

Soto’s death was due to underlying medical conditions, Lt Vance said.

A spokeswoman for the chief state medical examiner’s office said that the results of an autopsy on Soto’s remains indicates that the natural death was caused by staphylococcal meningitis, which is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system.

 Lt Vance said that the state police investigation into Soto’s death indicated that Soto had become dizzy in the shower area and then passed out. After being transported to the UConn Health Center, Soto died in the emergency room due to medical complications, Lt Vance said.

Through their investigation, state police learned that Soto had an extensive history of medical problems, Lt Vance said.

DOC spokesman Brian Garnett said January 6 that Soto was found by a prison staff member slumped down in the shower room, so medical staffers assessed his condition and decided that he should be transported for medical checks at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, where the DOC has a hospital ward designated for prisoner use. Mr Garnett stressed that Mr Soto had no head injury.

Garner staff members brought Soto the hospital in a SUV that is used for routine prisoner transport because an ambulance was not deemed necessary for the trip, Mr Garnett said.

Although Soto was alert while being transported, as he arrived at the hospital he experienced medical problems, after which he died, Mr Garnett said.

Soto’s last known address before being incarcerated was in Hartford.

Soto was serving a 30-month prison sentence in Garner following convictions on charges of third-degree burglary and third-degree larceny. Soto was sentenced in April 2008, following his August 2007 arrest by Hartford police.

Soto had been arrested by Hartford police and charged with the burglary and theft of items from US Senator Christopher Dodd’s Hartford office.

Soto’s scheduled prison release date was to be February 25.

Garner is a high-security prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road which typically holds about 600 male inmates. It is the state’s prime facility for inmates with serious mental health disorders.