The Defender General’s Office and the Department of Corrections are investigating the death of Northwest State Correctional Facility inmate Shayn Turner, officials said Wednesday.
Turner was discovered in his cell at the St. Albans prison early Tuesday morning.
The death is being classified as a medical event, Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito said Wednesday.
“There is no physical indication of a suicide but we will not know until (the) toxicology and coroners reports come back,” Pallito said in a text message. That will take six to eight weeks, he said.
Defender General Matthew Valerio said it is premature to pinpoint a cause of death.
Turner, 44, pleaded guilty last year to recording himself sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl and trading the videos on the Internet, the Burlington Free Press reported.
He was sentenced last month to 40 years to life in prison. Turner was also on probation for participation in a 2004 South Burlington bank robbery.
Inmate suicides are uncommon in Vermont prisons. From fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2013, there was one suicide in state facilities, according to a department report.
Inmate Robert Mossey hanged himself at the Northern State Correctional Facility on Aug. 30, 2013, and died at the hospital.
Meanwhile, reports of self-injurious incidents are rising. There were 408 reported in 2008 and 601 in 2013, according to DOC. The overwhelming majority are classified as “low lethality,” which includes threats of self-harm.
There have been other inmate deaths that are not suicide-related, according to DOC. Details about those deaths were not available Wednesday.
