James Ingerson, a 54-year-old man from Hartford, died Saturday while incarcerated at Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport.
Ingerson had reported not feeling well and was receiving care for an unspecified medical issue prior to his cellmate discovering him unresponsive Saturday morning, according to a Vermont State Police press release. Medical interventions by corrections officers and emergency medical service providers were not successful, and Ingerson was pronounced dead at 9:54 a.m.
State police said the death does not appear to be suspicious, but plans to investigate per standard protocol. The chief medical examiner’s office in Burlington also plans to conduct an autopsy to determine cause and manner of death.
Ingerson was the fifth person pronounced dead while in the custody of the Vermont Department of Corrections this year, according to department press releases. The first two, both in Springfield, occurred while the individuals were in their cells. Two others were detained men in palliative care at local hospitals.
Ingerson had been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for aggravated assault and cocaine possession in Windsor County in 2022, according to the state police. He was also serving a federal charge for illegal possession of a firearm as a felon.
