A 64-year-old man died earlier this month at Goose Creek Correctional Center, the Alaska Department of Corrections said Tuesday.
The department said no foul play is suspected in the Dec. 11 death of 64-year-old Morris Teeluk. He was serving a sentence for a sexual assault conviction, and had been in custody since 2014. The department did not provide a cause of Teeluk’s death, and said it cannot release medical information, citing privacy provisions.
Teeluk is the 18th person to die in corrections’ custody this year. It’s the highest number of in-custody deaths in Alaska in more than a decade. Family members and activists have criticized the department, and said the deaths are a crisis that needs special attention.
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