Antonio Dukes
Antonio Dukes, 38, died on December 24, 2025, while in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in Iberville Parish. The department's records list the cause of death as heart-related. His family's lawyers say he died of a suspected fentanyl overdose. The family's lawyers are filing a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit that alleges prison staff were deliberately indifferent and that systemic failures contributed to a death the suit calls preventable.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The Iberville Parish coroner's autopsy lists sudden cardiac arrest, and the state corrections department lists a heart-related death, but Antonio Dukes's family's lawyers say it was a suspected fentanyl overdose and allege that the prison's deliberate indifference contributed to a preventable death in their federal lawsuit.
Reported by: Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (the agency that held him); Iberville Parish Coroner's office (medical examiner or coroner); lawyers representing his family.
Lawsuit: His family's lawyers filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, alleging deliberate indifference and a preventable death, and no amount has been reported.