The cause of inmate Joan Rosengrant’s death inside the Luzerne County Correctional Facility last week is still undetermined because she had no external signs of trauma, according to the county coroner’s office.
In comparison, the June 8 death of another female inmate — Brooke Griesing — at the prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre had been ruled a suicide within days because an autopsy concluded she died of asphyxia due to hanging.
Coroner William Lisman said Monday that toxicology reports must be reviewed as part of determining Rosengrant’s cause of death, and the results won’t arrive for several weeks.
Lisman stressed the public should not jump to conclusions about drug involvement because his office has historically requested toxicology reports for inmate deaths.
He declined further comment, saying he won’t speculate. It’s unclear if Rosengrant, who was pronounced dead at approximately 3:05 a.m. July 7, had any medical conditions.
County Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich could not be reached for comment Monday, but he’s said early findings pointed to Rosengrant’s death being due to natural causes. The county District Attorney’s office is investigating.
County prisons must report all deaths to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections because they are deemed extraordinary occurrences.
There were a total 51 deaths at the state’s 67 county prisons — but none at the Luzerne County prison — in 2015, the most recent year for which these statistics are publicly posted. Of these deaths, 30 were due to natural causes, 19 were ruled suicides and two were homicides, the report shows.
Meanwhile, the one-year anniversary is nearing for the July 18, 2016, deaths of correctional officer Kristopher D. Moules and inmate Timothy Darnell Gilliam Jr. inside the Luzerne County prison.
According to investigators, Gilliam pulled Moules backward toward the fifth-floor elevator and hit the elevator door, which swung out at the base, resulting in both men falling 59 feet down an elevator shaft to their deaths.
Rosengrant, 47, of Wilkes-Barre, was accused of supplying heroin and fentanyl in a fatal overdose earlier this year.
She and co-defendant Eric Scott Malia, 32, also of Wilkes-Barre, were the first in the county to be charged with drug delivery resulting in death. State law was changed several years ago, eliminating a requirement to prove alleged dealers had malicious intent in order to charge them in a death.
Rosengrant, of Monroe Street, had been incarcerated for lack of $500,000 bail.
