By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 9/24/2026
NEW YORK CITY, NY –
Three people in New York state prisons died within 48 hours this week, according to records newly posted by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Two deaths occurred at Coxsackie Correctional Facility on consecutive days.
Nadyor Snow, 24, died September 22 while housed at Coxsackie. Jesse Lanton, 63, died there September 23. Nat Lee Jones, 69, died September 23 while housed at Woodbourne Correctional Facility.
The state’s public death list gives each person’s name, date of birth, identification number, date of death and housing facility. It does not state where the death occurred, what caused it, whether emergency treatment was provided or when relatives were notified.
Those omissions matter. A name on a government list confirms a death in custody. It does not tell a family or the public whether the person died after a long illness, an overdose, suicide, violence, delayed medical care or another event.
Coxsackie has now appeared three times on the September list. Donald E. Moffitt, 79, died September 8 while housed at the Greene County prison. Snow and Lanton died 14 and 15 days later. The clustering does not prove the deaths are connected, and the available state record offers no evidence that they are. It does demand a clear accounting of what happened in each case.
Eleven people in state prison custody are listed as dead between September 1 and September 23. They ranged in age from 24 to 76. The deaths occurred across Wende, Gouverneur, Mohawk, Coxsackie, Eastern New York, Groveland and Woodbourne correctional facilities.
DOCCS says a death that appears to involve something other than natural causes or a known medical condition is investigated by State Police and the department’s Office of Special Investigations. The State Commission of Correction reviews every death in a DOCCS facility.
That process can take time, but basic transparency should not depend on a final investigative report. The public record does not say whether an inquiry is open in any of the three latest deaths. It does not identify a preliminary cause or explain whether autopsies were ordered.
Oversight groups have warned that details about deaths in New York prisons are often delayed. The Correctional Association of New York maintains a deaths-in-custody database using records reported to the State Commission of Correction. Local reporting has documented cases in which causes remained unknown or unavailable long after a death.
The latest entries arrive while New York’s prison system remains under scrutiny over violence, medical care, staffing and the treatment of incarcerated people. Those broader failures do not establish what happened to Snow, Lanton or Jones. They make prompt disclosure more important.
The unanswered questions are specific. When was each person last seen alive? Did staff respond to a medical emergency? Were lifesaving measures attempted? Did any person report symptoms or seek care before death? Were cameras operating? Have the families received more information than the public list provides?
Until the state answers those questions, the record is limited to three names, three dates and two facilities. That is enough to document loss. It is not enough to establish accountability.
Sources
New York State DOCCS 2026 Incarcerated Deaths
DOCCS Incarcerated Deaths Policy
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