Vermont State Police investigate inmate death

NEWPORT, Vt. (WCAX) – The Vermont State Police is investigating the death of a man who was in the custody of the Vermont Department of Corrections.

Officials say VSP was notified Saturday morning that James Ingerson, a 54-year-old inmate at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, had been found dead in his cell.

A detective from the Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations was assigned to the case and began a death investigation.

Initial information indicates Ingerson had reported not feeling well, and had been receiving care for a medical issue prior to his cellmate discovering him unresponsive Saturday morning, and notifying a corrections officer. DOC staff members began life-saving measures and called for emergency medical services to respond to the facility.

Newport Emergency Medical Service pronounced Ingerson dead at Northern State at around 10am.

Police say the death does not appear to be suspicious. An autopsy will be performed at the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.

According to Department of Corrections records, Mr. Ingerson was serving a sentence of one day to 10 years for convictions of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of cocaine. He was charged in Windsor County in 2022 and sentenced earlier this year, with a minimum release date of Jan. 3, 2025, and a maximum of Nov. 17, 2032. Records from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Burlington indicate Mr. Ingerson also was facing a 2023 federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and had been ordered detained during the pendency of those proceedings.

Police say no additional information is available at this time.

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