CT DOC releases video 8 years after inmate death
A newly released video shows the moments leading up to the death of an inmate in Newtown in 2018.
Correction officers said J’Allen Jones started fighting them as they were moving him to the medical unit inside Garner Correctional.
A redacted version of the surveillance video was just released. In the video, you can see Jones in handcuffs walking with officers. He ends up in a cell. Officers performed CPR.
Jones later died at the hospital. He was serving a 10-year sentence for robbery.
The video was released as part of an ongoing civil case filed by Jones’ family against those involved.
An investigation by a state’s attorney in 2019 determined Jones’ death was not criminal in nature.
DeVaughn Ward, with the Office of the Correction Ombudsman, released the following statement:
Today, my thoughts are with the family of J’Allen Jones. Their courage in continuing to stand up for him, and in allowing the public to see what happened to their loved one, deserves to be acknowledged. This video is painful to watch, and it raises serious questions about force, restraint, medical response, transparency, and accountability inside our correctional system. It is also important to recognize that this incident occurred in 2018, before Connecticut passed the laws that created the Office of the Correction Ombuds and established the current Office of the Inspector General framework for investigating in-custody deaths.
If an incident like this occurred today, the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Correction Ombuds would both have authority to conduct independent reviews. The Inspector General’s Office would have authority to investigate the death and, where supported by law and evidence, pursue or refer criminal accountability. The Ombuds Office would also be empowered to independently review the incident, examine systemic issues, and make recommendations to the Department, the Governor, and the General Assembly.
Upon learning about this incident, the Office of the Correction Ombuds conducted an inquiry. Many of the officers involved are no longer employed by the Department of Correction, and the prosecutor who declined charges has since retired. But those facts do not erase the need for public accountability.
It should not take this many years for a family, or the public, to receive answers about why a person died in state custody, or why the state spent years defending conduct that the public had not been able to fully see for itself.
In 2025, I advocated for a provision that would have allowed the Correction Ombuds or the Inspector General to release footage publicly when there is a death in custody. That proposal was ultimately narrowed to allow the family and the Judiciary Committee chairs to view the footage. That was a step forward, but this case shows we can do more.
Transparency is not about assigning blame before the facts are known. It is about public trust. When someone dies in state custody, the public deserves timely, independent answers, and families deserve a process that does not require them to fight for years simply to have the truth seen.
NBC Connecticut has reached out to the CT DOC for comment and has not heard back.
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