0 people, most recent first. Choose a name, or a dot on the map.
1,021 of them are recorded here one by one, 1,018 by name. Another 161 are known only as numbers: deaths the official yearly counts report, for the same years, beyond the people recorded here.
At least 50 people have died in custody in Nevada so far in 2026. The most recent named here is Brandon McKinney, who died on September 23, 2026 at Ely State Prison.
Each dot is one of them, held in a jail, prison or lockup, or executed by the state. Some died after abuse by officers; others from withdrawal, overdose or untreated illness; many by suicide. Almost all of them show the state’s neglect of the people in its custody.
This is an undercount: many deaths are never made public, and older records are hard to find.
0 people, most recent first. Choose a name, or a dot on the map.
One mark per person, by the year they died. Choose the box at the side to see every decade. Coverage is uneven: recent deaths come mostly from local news since 2000, older ones from official lists and historical newspapers, so the shape shows what was recorded as much as how many people died.
NDOC reports how many people die in its prisons each year, but not who they were. Most of those deaths, especially from illness, never appear in the news, so far fewer are named here. The gap is people still to be identified.
Source: NDOC reports. Official counts are deaths in state prisons only; county jails report to no central agency.
| Year | Reported by NDOC | Recorded here |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76 | 76 |
| 2024 | 55 | 54 |
| 2023 | 46 | 46 |
| 2022 | 53 | 53 |
| 2021 | 79 | 78 |
| 2020 | 83 | 82 |
| 2019 | 41 | 42 |
| 2018 | 45 | 45 |
| 2017 | 47 | 47 |
| 2016 | 42 | 42 |
| 2015 | 47 | 47 |
| 2014 | 44 | 44 |
| 2013 | 36 | 35 |
| 2012 | 40 | 40 |
| 2011 | 38 | 37 |
| 2010 | 41 | 40 |
| 2009 | 40 | 38 |
| 2008 | 44 | 43 |
| 2007 | 43 | 42 |
The Nevada Department of Corrections publishes a named list of deaths in custody. At least 2 people named here died in that custody, in the years the list covers, but no matching entry appears on it. Some may be listed under a different spelling or date; others may be deaths that were never reported to the state.
Each bar is a source and the years its records cover. Sources checked on a schedule are searched again for new records; the others were collected once.
These deaths have cost taxpayers in Nevada at least $8 million: the amount governments have agreed or been ordered to pay the families and estates of at least 3 people recorded here, in settlements and court awards reported in the news. Families sued over at least 14 of these deaths. Many suits end with no amount made public, and many settlements are kept confidential, so the true cost is higher.
| Person | Paid by | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Walker | State of Nevada | $4.6 million | |
| Kelly Coltrain | Mineral County | 2019 | $2 million |
| Melody Morgan | State of Nevada | 2024 | $1.4 million |
Questions, a correction, or a death I’ve missed? Email me at orion.j.taylor@gmail.com.