The Alaska Department of Corrections has reported three in-custody deaths in the month of April so far, bringing the total reported this year to five in-custody deaths.
Nathaniel David Leask, 49, died on April 3 in the Anchorage Correctional Complex. He was remanded just six days prior, for “multiple probation violations” according to the department.
The ACLU of Alaska first reported that Leask died by suicide, and said according to witnesses that he lay for more than three hours before correctional staff began attempting life-saving measures. It was the second in-custody suicide this year. The civil rights group has called for more resources for mental health care, and greater oversight and accountability from the Department of Corrections in protocols surrounding in-custody deaths, and preventing more deaths.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety confirmed Leask’s death was a suicide on Thursday, through department spokesperson Austin McDaniel.
“Troopers were notified at 8:40 pm on April 3 that 49-year-old Ketchikan resident Nathaniel Leask had died at Anchorage Correctional Center inside of a general housing cell. An investigation conducted by the Alaska State Troopers determined that Leask’s injuries were self-inflicted. Next of kin have been notified, and his body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office,” he said in an email statement.
Alaska state troopers conduct investigations into all in-custody deaths, “just as we would for any other unanticipated death that occurs in Alaska,” McDaniel said. “Our primary duty is to determine if any criminal conduct contributed to the decedent’s death.”
Also in April, two people died in-custody that McDaniel said were “medically expected deaths.”
Marcias Zorita Reinhold, 83, died in Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River on April 8. She had been incarcerated since 1998, according to the department.
Lena Lola Lynn, 63, died in Goose Creek Correctional Center in Wasilla on Sunday, April 20. She was remanded on June 21, 2024, for “parole violations related to prior convictions,” the department said.
DOC has reported five in-custody deaths so far this year.
Pedro George Rubke, 78, died on Feb. 4, in Goose Creek Correctional Center. He had been incarcerated since 2012.
Reginald Eugene Childers Jr., 42, died on March 3 at the Anchorage Correctional Complex. He was remanded on January 3, and was incarcerated pretrial. According to the State Troopers, he was found unresponsive in a cell and transported to a hospital where he later died. The death was deemed a suicide.
The recent deaths bring the tally to at least 70 deaths in custody of DOC jails and prisons since 2020, with at least 18 deaths reported as suicides, according to the department.
DOC declined to comment on the recent death incidents on Thursday. Betsy Holley, a department spokesperson, said internal investigations are ongoing.
“Our processes remain consistent: every inmate death is treated with the utmost seriousness,” she said by email. “Each case undergoes a thorough internal review by both our Medical and Institutions Divisions, as well as an external and independent review by the Department of Public Safety and the State Medical Examiner. Of the three deaths referenced, two were anticipated by medical personnel—specific details of which we are legally prohibited from sharing due to HIPAA regulations.”
There have been three wrongful death lawsuits filed against DOC since 2022. In March, the family of Lewis Jordan Jr. and the ACLU of Alaska filed a lawsuit for the 53-year-old’s death in Goose Creek Correctional Center in 2023 alleging staff displayed “deliberate indifference” and ignored his pleas for medical attention for an ear infection. His condition deteriorated into fatal meningitis, and he later died after weeks in a coma and his family had to remove him from life support.