A New York inmate was found dead in his cell Saturday at the Auburn Correctional Facility, officials said.
The inmate was identified as Jonathon Grant, 61, according to Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The cause of Grant’s death is under investigation, Syracuse.com reports. Grant, was convicted in Brooklyn, entered the prison system in 2011 and had been serving a sentence of 34 to 40 years for rape and burglary, records show. He died during a turbulent time for the state prison system. Ten employees were recently indicted in the fatal December beating of an inmate, Robert L. Brooks, in a Utica-area prison. Six of them face a murder charge.
Many New York corrections officers have been on an illegal wildcat strike for the past week, despite a judge ordering them back to work. Thousands of National Guard personnel have been deployed to prisons across the state, including the one in Auburn. Discontent has been growing among officers as they say they are forced to work extensive amounts of overtime due to a staffing shortage. Union leaders earlier this month issued a vote of “no confidence” in the state corrections commissioner. Striking officers have made numerous demands, most notably the “reversal” of the so-called HALT Act, which limits the use of solitary confinement in prisons. A seasoned Long Island-based mediator, Martin Scheinman, is set to meet Monday with the corrections department and the corrections officers union.