Report: Department of Correction was negligent in monitoring cell of inmate who committed suicide
33-year-old Gamboy Guaranda took his own life while serving time in the New Haven Correctional Center on sexual assault charges.
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Connecticut civil rights advocates are speaking out after an investigation found the Department of Correction was negligent in monitoring the cell of an inmate who committed suicide back in April of this year.
"This is something we've known for many years," says legal fellow Joseph Gaylin, of ACLU CT. "The Department of Correction has had real troubles."
Gamboy Guaranda, 33, took his own life while serving time in the New Haven Correctional Center on sexual assault charges.
The inspector general report says Guaranda covered the window of his cell door on the morning of April 16 with a piece of paper that said, 'USING BATHROOM GIVE ME A MINUTE.'
Surveillance video from inside the prison shows the on-duty correction officer shining a flashlight on Guaranda's cell, but the report states the officer didn't communicate with Guaranda or do anything to intervene.
The inspector general says the officer then documented that his tour of the cellblock was complete.
Guaranda's suicide was not the result of any criminal action, the investigation found, but the inspector general concluded that the Department of Correction was negligent in monitoring Guaranda's cell.
More than a dozen people have died in Connecticut Department of Correction custody so far this year.
Gaylin says it's an alarming statistic.
"People keep dying," he says, "and we don't have enough information."
Gaylin says that a corrections officer falsifying records is a major red flag.
"When a record is falsified and it is reported out to the public, it makes you wonder: how many other times has this been going on in the Department of Correction?" he says.
In a statement, the CT DOC says it's reviewing the findings of the investigation.
"The death of an incarcerated individual is traumatic for all involved," the statement says. "The DOC is continuing to review the findings with an eye toward strengthening our policies and practices, where and if appropriate, to ensure the safety of the individuals under our supervision."
Civil rights advocates, like Gaylin, are hoping for change.
"My hope is that the new commissioner will really, really pay attention to deaths in-custody and conditions of confinement and try to make meaningful change," Gaylin says.
