Dustin Szot
Dustin Szot, 24, died on September 27, 2016, while held at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan. According to an autopsy cited in a complaint filed in the Michigan Court of Claims, he died of blunt force trauma ruled a homicide, after a confrontation with another prisoner in which corrections officers shocked him with Tasers. Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler said he found no criminal violation by the officers and attributed the death to punches thrown by the other prisoner in self-defense. Szot's family blamed excessive force and called for the release of the videos of the incident, and a journalist is suing for that footage.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed). An autopsy cited in a Court of Claims complaint lists the death as a homicide from blunt force trauma, and the Ionia County prosecutor attributed it to punches from another prisoner, while the family says corrections officers used Tasers excessively and the state says the case remains under investigation.
Reported by: autopsy cited in a complaint filed in the Michigan Court of Claims (medical examiner or coroner); Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler (outside investigators); family, as told to WZZM 13 (family or their lawyers); the state.