Stephen Todd Booker
Stephen Todd Booker, 69, became an accomplished prison poet whose work appeared in literary publications and was championed by established poets. He died on November 3, 2022, in his cell at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida, where he was held. An autopsy by the Sixth District Medical Examiner, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times, found acute fentanyl toxicity and ruled the death an accident, though how he obtained the drug has not been explained. The Florida Department of Corrections had not provided its report on the death when the Tampa Bay Times requested it. He had no next of kin, and his great-niece, Page Zyromski, organized a funeral mass and burial in Indianapolis, saying she wanted to give him dignity.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose. The Sixth District Medical Examiner's autopsy found acute fentanyl toxicity and ruled the death an accident, while the Florida Department of Corrections recorded the manner as accident without giving a cause.
Reported by: Florida Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Sixth District Medical Examiner (medical examiner or coroner); Tampa Bay Times (reporters).