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Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, CT. Credit: Mark Pazniokas / CT Mirror

The Department of Correction and the Connecticut State Police are investigating the deaths of three people in Connecticut prisons in the last week. 

Two of the deaths took place at Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown. On Sunday, Andrey Desmond, 32, who was serving a 5-year sentence for a 2023 assault on Rep. Maryam Khan, D-Windsor, was found unresponsive in his cell, according to a release from the Department of Correction.

Khan declined to comment on Desmond’s death.

The second, Clemente Giusto of Bridgeport, who was also housed in Garner, was found unresponsive at 2 a.m. on Friday after an emergency medical code was called. Attempts to revive Giusto were unsuccessful, according to the release. 

The release said that Giusto, 50, had been hospitalized for about a week in mid-January. Two days later, he was sent back to the hospital, where he remained until Thursday. At the time he was found, he had been back at Garner for only four hours. 

Giusto had been incarcerated in late November and was awaiting trial. 

Also on Sunday, 40-year-old Noe Taveras was found unresponsive in his cell at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institute, according to the release. Taveras, who was from Florida, had been incarcerated since 2010. According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Taveras died by suicide. 

The OCME is still investigating the deaths of the other men.

Department of Correction Commissioner Angel Quiros expressed condolences to the families of the incarcerated men who died.

“These tragic incidents affect all of those involved very deeply. I assure you that the safety and well-being of those under our supervision remains a fundamental priority,” Quiros said in the release. 

Correction Ombuds DeVaughn Ward told CT Mirror in a statement that the death of three people in a week is “a profound and sobering moment for our correctional system.” 

“Each loss represents a human being and a grieving family, and it raises serious questions about the adequacy of health care in our facilities,” Ward said in the statement. 

Ward said his office would wait until the investigations were finished before deciding whether further actions were warranted. 

“While those investigations proceed, this moment calls for transparency and a shared commitment from state leadership to meaningful reform of a system facing serious operational challenges,” Ward said.

Emilia Otte is CT Mirror's Justice Reporter, where she covers the conditions in Connecticut prisons, the judicial system and migration. Prior to working for CT Mirror, she spent four years at CT Examiner, where she covered education, healthcare and children's issues both locally and statewide. She graduated with a BA in English from Bryn Mawr College and a MA in Global Journalism from New York University, where she specialized in Europe and the Mediterranean.