Investigation launched into sudden death of prisoner, autopsy being conducted

An autopsy will be conducted  on the body of a prisoner who died suddenly at the Belle Isle Correctional Facility on April 6.

Reports are that the deceased, Tyson John, 35 of Calder complained of pain in his chest then collapsed.

He was taken to the Spring Village Health Centre where he was later pronounced dead.

Acting Superintendent of Prisons, Dwayne Bailey told SEARCHLIGHT that the circumstances surrounding the death of the inmate are currently uncertain.

However, an autopsy is being done to ascertain the cause of death.

The Superintendent also noted that the police have since launched an investigation surrounding the death of Jones.

Bailey, who expressed condolences to the family of the deceased noted that earlier on the day he collapsed, Jones had participated in the prison football competition and at that time “he was of good health”.

He also highlighted that the deceased worked on the prison farm and he was generally of good behaviour.

Bailey said that although the prisoner generally had good behaviour, he would have finished serving his sentence on April 11, had he not received additional time for engaging in a fight with another inmate. Additionally, he had been caught with a cell phone.

Bailey described the situation as unfortunate and said, had it not been for those things, and if the prisoner was alive he would have gone home on April 11.

The acting superintendent  said that after the autopsy is completed the police will go from there, and he will then be able to comment further.

In 2019, Justice Brian Cottle sentenced the deceased to six years in prison for wounding with intent, Orde Pompey, a 55-year-old of Georgetown.

During the sentencing, information from a Social Inquiry Report  revealed that when a case worker interviewed the prison authorities in relation to John while he was on remand,  prison authorities said that since John’s conviction, he was of good behaviour. Other interviewees who knew him asked for him to be given a second chance as he was not known to be a troublemaker and the report on a whole presented that John was a good candidate for rehabilitation.