Stephen J. Sedensky III, the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Danbury, has ruled that the March 25, 2018, death of a prisoner at Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown is “not criminal in nature.”

In a statement issued on January 24, Mr Sedensky said, in part, “31-year-old Jallen Jones was an inmate... Mr Jones had been having mental health difficulties and was described as decompensating.”

“In the process of moving Mr Jones to a medical unit [within the prison], a personal search was required. Mr Jones struggled with the officers, and physical force was applied to Mr Jones, including the application of [pepper spray] in an attempt to subdue him,” Mr Sedensky added.

“Medical services were requested, and medication was administered in an attempt to calm Mr Jones. Sometime after the medication was administered, Mr Jones became unresponsive. Emergency medical services were called, and Mr Jones was transported to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead,” the state’s attorney noted.

“The Connecticut State Police, including the Western District Major Crime Squad, were notified, as well as this state’s attorney. Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad investigated the circumstances of Mr Jones’ death, and Garner personnel cooperated with the investigation,” according to Mr Sedensky.

“[I] went to Garner Correctional Institution on March 25, 2018, and met with correction officials and the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad. The incident was captured on video, a copy of which was provided to the investigators,” Mr Sedensky said.

An autopsy on Mr Jones’ remains was conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington, and Mr Jones’ death was ruled a homicide.

“Upon reviewing the Western District Major Crime Squad investigation, including the reports, statements, photographs, and the video recording of the incident itself, I have determined that the circumstances of the Mr Jones’ death are not criminal in nature,” the state’s attorney said.

“Accordingly, the criminal investigation into this matter is closed. We express our sincere condolences to the family of Mr Jones on their loss,” Mr Sedensky said.

Autopsy

In June, Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner James R. Gill, MD, had determined that the untimely death of Jones, who had been engaged in a struggle with prison staffers, was a “homicide.”

A spokesman for the chief state medical examiner’s office has said that an autopsy determined that Mr Jones experienced a sudden death during a struggle and restraint with chest compression, plus pepper spray exposure, in a person with hypertension and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Pepper spray is an aerosol-based disabling weapon derived from hot peppers that causes the eyes to tear and interferes with breathing. Hypertension is abnormally high blood pressure. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, also known as hardening of the arteries, involves the deposition of fatty plaque on the inner walls of blood vessels.

Karen Martucci, a state Department of Correction spokesperson, has said, “When a cause of death is determined to be a homicide, that does not mean that there is a criminal element associated with the incident.” Homicide is a broad term referring to a person’s death at the hands of another person, which includes situations such as murder, manslaughter, or instances of self-defense.

Jones was serving a ten-year sentence on convictions for charges including first-degree robbery stemming from an incident at a gas station/convenience store in Waterbury in August 2013. Jones, from Atlanta, Ga., had been incarcerated since September 2014. He was sentenced in May 2015.

According to a DOC statement that was issued after the death, at about 11:05 am on March 25, Garner’s health services staff determined that Jones required treatment and some increased supervision at the prison’s in-patient mental health unit. Garner is the state prison that specializes in providing acute mental health care to state prison inmates.

“During escort and placement into [the unit], inmate Jones became noncompliant and combative with staff and then became nonresponsive. Life-saving measures were immediately initiated, and Jones was transported via ambulance to a community hospital, where he was declared deceased at approximately 12:25 pm,” according to DOC.

Lawsuit

Last August, The Estate of J’Allen Jones lodged a wrongful death lawsuit against the DOC in Connecticut Superior Court in Hartford.

In the legal papers, attorney A. Paul Spinella of Hartford, representing the estate, names 12 defendants in the case, including former DOC Commissioner Scott Semple. Also named as defendants are the current prison warden, two correctional supervisors, six correction officers, and two Garner medical unit employees. The plaintiffs in the case are Lynette Richardson, who is the administratrix of the estate, and Jones’ mother, Jessica Jones.

The lawsuit states that ten of the defendants were present when Jones was brought to the prison’s mental health unit on March 25. Although Jones was “handcuffed, restrained, helpless, and surrounded by as many as ten of the defendants,” they used pepper spray on him, it states. The legal papers allege that the defendants attacked and beat Jones, eventually breaking his neck and causing his death.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants were responsible for avoiding inflicting cruel and unusual punishment and the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain on inmates. However, Jones died as a direct result of the defendants’ conduct, it adds. “The defendants acted recklessly, and their recklessness caused the death,” it states.

Through the lawsuit, which lists seven counts against the defendants, the plaintiffs are seeking money damages, attorneys’ fees, and other relief from the court.

The last court activity in the lawsuit occurred on January 15, when the attorney for the plaintiffs filed a response to a statement from the defendants.