Jeffrey Washington
Jeffrey Washington, 66, died at Rhode Island Hospital in December 2020 after contracting COVID-19 while held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, where he had been since 1988. The state Department of Corrections said he died from complications of COVID-19 and that other health conditions likely contributed. Advocates argued the state should have acted sooner to reduce the prison population during the outbreak and held it responsible for his death, while corrections officials defended their protocols. A separate report said his name had been withheld for medical privacy reasons and that his family had been notified.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (neglect alleged). The Department of Corrections attributed the death to complications of COVID-19 with other comorbidities likely contributing, while advocates said the state should have acted sooner to reduce the prison population during the outbreak and held the state responsible.
Reported by: state Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); advocates.