JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A third inmate within the Alaska Department of Corrections has died from complications related to COVID-19, the department said Tuesday.
The 78-year-old with underlying conditions died Tuesday, four days after being taken from a correctional facility in Anchorage to a hospital, the department said. The person had been in custody since 2017 on a sexual abuse charge but was not sentenced, the department said.
The two prior COVID-19-related deaths announced by the department involved individuals who had been held at the Goose Creek Correctional Center near Wasilla. The department has declined to provide the names of the three individuals, citing privacy concerns.
Meanwhile, the department announced a man who was serving a sentence for a murder charge died in California on Monday. Horace Nelson, 64, has been in custody since 1979. He had been serving his state sentence at a federal correctional facility in that state since 2014, the department said.
Nelson's death was not related to COVID-19, and foul play was not suspected, the department said in a release.