Cloe Poisson / CTMirror.org
When her son Michael told her in June that he was being transferred to the Osborn Correctional Institution from a prison in Newtown, Dorothea Ferrigon thought his two-year ordeal was almost over.
Osborn’s location in Somers was much closer to the family’s Bloomfield home, which meant it would be easier to visit him. Even better, he’d been placed on a waiting list for a halfway house that would likely be in the Hartford area. His release, it appeared, was imminent.
But then COVID struck the prisons, the state Department of Correction halted visitations, and the family worried about “Big Mike,” who had both diabetes and asthma.
Updated: 6:08 PM EST December 22, 2020
CONNECTICUT, USA The Department of Correction (DOC) has reported another inmate has died due to COVID-19.
The man was taken from the MacDougall-Walker Medical Isolation Unit to an outside hospital for treatment on December 15 and succumbed to his illness on the morning of December 22.
The DOC says the identity of the 69-year-old man will not be released due to medical privacy laws. The inmate last entered the state s correctional system in October of 2015. He was serving a 12-year-old sentence for sexual assault in the first degree and injury or risk to a minor. His maximum release date was in April 2027 and was not eligible for parole until April 2021.
His maximum release date was in April of 2027 and he was not eligible for parole until April of 2021, officials said.
“I would be lying if I said that hearing this bad news was not disheartening, but it only strengthens my resolve to continue the Agency’s fight to combat the spread of this virus,” said Commissioner Designate Angel Quiros. “My condolences go out to his family.”
DOC officials said this is the thirteenth inmate COVID death.
The DOC announced an inmate death Monday night. The man entered the correctional system in May of 2000 and was serving a 60-year sentence, suspended after 40 years, for aggravated first degree sexual assault and first degree kidnapping with a firearm.
Eleventh incarcerated person dies from COVID-19
A 47-year-old incarcerated man died from COVID-19 on Thursday, the 11th inmate to die from the virus since the onset of the pandemic.
The Department of Correction announced the death in a press release Friday night but did not release his name, citing medical privacy laws. The department did say, however, that he’d been serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence on a sale of narcotics charge and had been approved for a reentry furlough prior to his death, meaning his release may have been imminent.
The man had been transferred to a hospital from the DOC’s medical isolation unit at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution on Nov. 28.
He was recently cleared to be released on a reentry furlough before his death, the DOC said.
In an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19, prison staff will be tested every week and the inmate population will be tested every other week.
“It’s never easy to lose a loved one, but it is even harder when the loss comes around the holidays. My sincere condolences go out to his family,” said Commissioner Designate Angel Quiros. “I am committed to continuing the fight against the spread of this virus in any way I can.”