Updated April 18 at 6:32 p.m.
A 46-year-old man who told prison staff he felt unwell and had difficulty breathing died at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Monday morning, according to Vermont State Police.
David Mitchell, 46, of Rutland, “was found unresponsive in his cell during a check at 9:27 a.m.,” police said. “Corrections staff provided emergency medical care and called first responders to the prison. Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful, and the inmate was pronounced dead at Southern State at 10:10 a.m.”
“Preliminary information obtained by VSP indicates the inmate had recently experienced health problems and told staff Monday morning that he was feeling unwell and had difficulty breathing,” police said.
An autopsy performed at the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington will determine the cause and manner of death, according to police, and an investigation is ongoing.
Since January 2022, 12 people who were in custody at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield have died, according to state police and corrections department reports. The prison includes an infirmary and a housing unit for elderly and chronically ill people.
In 2022, a total of nine people died in the state’s prison system, including six at the Springfield prison. An average of three people per year died in Vermont’s prisons from 2017 through 2021.
Haley Sommer, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, declined to comment on Monday’s death or the circumstances around it.
In an email, she pointed to the department’s general policy, which says that when a “Corrections Officer is notified of a medical emergency, medical staff will respond and provide the individual with the necessary care.” The policy “would have been adhered to in this circumstance, as well,” she said.
The death comes a week after the Department of Corrections placed Mike Lyon, the now-former superintendent of the Springfield prison, on paid leave amid a misconduct investigation. Corrections officials have shared little about the investigation, other than saying it is not related to the recent deaths of incarcerated people.
Monique Sullivan, the Springfield prison’s living unit supervisor, is serving as acting superintendent.
The week prior, Vermont State Police said it was investigating two assaults of corrections officers at the Springfield prison.
Earlier this month, the corrections department announced it was switching its health care services provider from VitalCore Health Strategies to Wellpath LLC.
The state previously contracted with Wellpath from 2010 to 2015, when it operated under the name Correct Care Solutions. The new contract begins July 1.
