Luis Santiago
Luis Santiago, 32, was held at SCI Pine Grove in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. On the evening of January 1, 2019, staff found him unresponsive in his cell and took him to Indiana Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Department of Corrections first said the county coroner had preliminarily listed trauma at the hands of another, then issued a revised release dropping that claim. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that an autopsy found asphyxia due to venous obstruction, that the coroner ruled the death a homicide, and that a cellmate was charged, while the York Daily Record reported that the coroner later called the homicide reports inaccurate. Pennsylvania State Police investigated the death.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed). State police say an autopsy found asphyxia due to venous obstruction and ruled it a homicide, but the Indiana County coroner later reportedly said reports of an apparent homicide were inaccurate, and prison officials first blamed another person before saying he fell and hit his head.
Reported by: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Indiana County Coroner Jerry Overman (medical examiner or coroner); Pennsylvania State Police (outside investigators).
Sources (7)
- Inmate facing Harrisburg drug charges killed in Pa. prison
- PSP Punxsy Opens Investigation After Inmate Found Dead at State Prison
- Death of state prison inmate under investigation in Indiana County
- Pine Grove reports death of inmate
- Pennsylvania on pace for worst year in a generation for suicides in state prisons
- State prison inmate charged with killing cellmate in Indiana County - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Former SCI Pine Grove inmate accused of killing cellmate