Death of inmate under investigation at McDougal-Walker Correctional Institution
The Department of Correction and state police are investigating the death of an inmate at McDougal-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield early Thursday morning.
Staff at the prison were alerted to the unconscious inmate in his cell around 12:30 a.m.
They found 29-year-old Christopher Root of Old Saybrook on the floor of the cell near a pool of vomit, according to officials.
Staff members performed life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful.
Root was pronounced dead around 1:20 a.m.
The prison has been placed on lockdown.
Root was being held on a charge of first-degree strangulation .
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of Root’s death.
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