HENDRICKS COUNTY— The Indiana Department of Correction is investigating how an offender at the Plainfield Correctional Facility was able to obtain drugs that ultimately killed him.
Jeremy Jones died on Sept. 28 at the state prison from “methamphetamine intoxication,” according to the Hendricks County Coroner’s office.
The coroner said the manner of Jones’ death was “undetermined”, which means they could not determine whether it was an accident, suicide, natural or homicide.
The Indiana Department of Correction’s investigation is underway to figure out how Jones obtained the methamphetamine.
“All deaths are investigated, and when drugs are suspected, a key part of that investigation is how any contraband got into a facility,” said Annie Goeller, an IDOC spokesperson in an email to WRTV. “This investigation is ongoing.”
This is not the first death attributed to meth at Plainfield Correctional.
Offender Jeffrey Capes died on June 11 at the state prison.
He died of Hypertensive Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular disease, however, the coroner said "methamphetamine intoxication" contributed to his death.
The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute dashboard shows in 2022, 6 in custody prison deaths were reported in Hendricks County, most of them due to natural causes.
IDOC records for 2022 deaths are not yet available.
IDOC records show 15 people died in custody at Plainfield Correctional Facility in 2021.
Nearly all of them were listed as "natural" deaths, however one was a suicide, one was undetermined and one death was listed as "unnatural."
According to a report from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, 129 people died in a state prison in 2020.
Nearly 83% of deaths reported within the state prisons were due to natural causes/illness.
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Just under 8% of deaths resulted from suicide, 5% were classified as accidental, and 2% were homicides.
Two prison deaths were still pending investigation in the manner of death at the time of the report.
Jeremy Jones was in state prison for murder, according to the IDOC website.
He was convicted in Marion County in 2003, records show.
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