More people died in Virginia prisons during 2025 than the previous year, according to the state’s second annual assessment of in-custody deaths.
State law enforcement agencies covered in the Department of Criminal Justice Services report saw the deaths decline, but the Virginia Department of Corrections tally rose from 97 in 2024 to 111. The report also noted the oldest person to die in custody was 88 years old, and the youngest was 16.
Carla Miles, a VADOC spokesperson, didn’t offer additional information about the teen’s death.
As of Aug. 31, four people younger than 18 were in VADOC custody, “based on their crimes being violent in nature,” she wrote in an email.
She attributed the increase in total deaths to an aging prison population “with more health issues than in previous years. The VADOC will continue to be responsive to incarcerated individuals' health care issues.”
Almost one-third of the people who died in custody were 65 and older, the report said.
The new data comes as Gov. Abigail Spanberger has begun efforts to address issues at the state prison system — though an investigation into the death of Aubrey McKay, who was incarcerated at Wallens Ridge State Prison, and a court case involving the death of Corrections Officer Jeremy Hall, who was killed at River North Correctional Center, continue to play out.
Discrepancies in data among multiple state agencies tasked with tracking the deaths also recently came to light through Radio IQ reporting. It prompted the state medical examiner’s office to adapt its data sharing process to better “maintain the most accurate and consistent records possible.”
Bryan L. Sykes, a Cornell University professor who studies the criminal justice system, called the report’s findings “substantial.”
“I think that increase points to a breakdown of institutional protocols around the safety and the health of people who are in custody,” he said, discussing in-custody deaths at VADOC.
Del. Cia Price, a Democrat who represents Newport News, previously recognized the issue and in 2024, filed legislation that resulted in the state issuing the annual reports, replete with suggestions from a panel on how to mitigate the issue.
While the first report didn’t include recommendations — because of what the panel’s members said was insufficient data — this latest document made a range of suggestions for addressing prison deaths. They included the improvement of “living conditions for long-term incarceration,” health education, the expansion of addiction treatment services and addressing staffing issues that regularly have been a problem for the department.
Sykes said that since VADOC regulates nutrition and health services for incarcerated people, any perceived shortcomings in its offerings is a self-inflicted issue.
“It's really curious to me, along the lines of the healthy lifestyle choices, what other opportunities there would be for people who are behind bars,” he said.
Sykes added that he was unaware of other prison systems making use of another of the report’s recommendations: potentially using biometric scanning “to monitor vital signs of people with high-risk of self-harm.”
The annual report, which was released earlier this summer, noted a continued over-representation of the Black population at VADOC, though white males made up the largest group of people in state custody. The vast majority — or 85% — of VADOC deaths were attributed to natural causes, up from 55% in the previous report. And in half the cases, determinations about the cause of death were “Unavailable, Pending Investigation,” an increase from 30% during the previous year.
“There's something afoot,” Sykes said. “I think the classification question is a critical one as well. What do you consider to be natural? That category definitely could be more of a repository for other things that might be environmental in nature — that's natural to the environment. But it's unclear.”
Read more at Red Onion Resources.
Disclosure: Independent reporter Dave Cantor is suing the Virginia Department of Corrections to gain access to documentation of the agency’s use of tasers at Red Onion State Prison.