Four inmates at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester have died since the beginning of September, but the Randolph County Coroner says he does not believe the deaths are related.
Coroner Carlos J. Barbour said Monday the fourth inmate died Sept. 14 after being taken to Chester Memorial Hospital from the prison's medium security unit. The inmate's death comes days after the coroner's office announced three inmates at Menard died over three consecutive days, Sept. 5, 6 and 7.
The fourth inmate, who was not identified pending notification of the family, appeared to die from a self-inflicted cause, Barbour said. While an autopsy has been performed, the office is awaiting toxicology reports before ruling on a definite cause of death, he added.
The number of inmates deaths at the prison in a such a short period of time is highly unusual, Barbour said, noting it more than the yearly average yearly the office handles. However, Barbour said he does not believe the deaths are related and does not suspect foul play in any of the deaths.
Barbour identified the other inmates as Kevin Curtis, 31, of Waukegan, who died Sept. 5; Edwin Freeman, 45, who died Sept. 6; and Timothy Murray, 32, who died Sept. 7.
Barbour said autopsies have been performed but the causes of death are still unknown, pending toxicology results. which could take up to eight weeks to become available.
Lindsey Hess, media administrator for the Illinois Department of Corrections in Springfield, confirmed the department was looking into the deaths, but had no further comment.
An Illinois State Police spokesman said the ISP sent a crime scene services team to Menard in the wake of the first three deaths, which he said is generally standard operating procedure when an inmate dies. It is not known what the crime scene services team found at Menard. The ISP is not involved in the ongoing investigation, the spokesman said.
Barbour said the number of cases from the prison this month is highly unusual, noting that
Curtis was sentenced to 20 to 60 years after being convicted in 2017 for stabbing a friend to death in a hotel room in Waukegan, north of Chicago, in 2013, according to the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald.
Curtis' attorney, Kevin Malia, said last week he was "shocked and saddened" when he learned of Curtis's death, but added he has not heard any additional information about his cause of death.
The hometowns and backgrounds of Freeman and Murray were not available. All three inmates have been removed from IDOC's offender database on the department's website.
Daily Herald Media Group staff writer Lee Filas contributed to this report.
