Inmate Who Assaulted Correction Officer Found Dead, Officials Say

SUFFIELD, CT — An incarcerated man who assaulted a correction officer earlier this week has died in an apparent suicide, according to the Connecticut Department of Correction.

DOC officials identified the deceased as 27-year-old Jaishon Bellamy of East Hartford. He had been transferred to the MacDougall–Walker Correctional Institution on December 1st, the same day he allegedly choked and punched a correction officer during a security check at Osborn. Following the incident, Bellamy was placed in the facility’s restrictive housing unit.

The department said a correction officer conducting a routine overnight tour around 2:30 a.m. on December 4th noticed Bellamy’s cell window had been obstructed. After he failed to respond to orders to remove the covering, staff entered the cell and found him with a bedsheet tied around his neck, secured to the bed frame.

Staff said that they immediately began life-saving measures, and Bellamy was transported by ambulance to Saint Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 3:48 a.m.

According to state records, Bellamy was serving a 20-year sentence for first-degree sexual assault and had been behind bars since August 15, 2015. He was alone in his cell at the time of the incident, authorities say.

The DOC Security Division and the Connecticut State Police are investigating. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death, officials say.