A seventh man has died at the oldest maximum security prison in the state, located in Waupun, which has seen numerous deaths since 2023. This comes less than a year after the then-warden and multiple staff members were charged with misconduct and felony inmate abuse.
According to the Department of Corrections (DOC) website, 23-year old Damien Evans died March 4 at the Waupun Correctional Institution. No additional details have been provided. In an email to the Associated Press, Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said that his agency is investigating Evans’ death but he had no additional information to share. Records show that Evans was charged in 2019 to seven years in prison, with an additional two for bail jumping, both out of Racine County.
DOC spokesperson Beth Hardtke confirmed Evans’ death in a March 5 statement.
“Per DOC policy, staff notified the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and the Dodge County Medical Examiner’s Office of the death,” Hardtke said. “The Dodge County Medical Examiner’s Office is responsible for determining the cause of death.”
While the death is under investigation, Waupun mayor Rohn Bishop believes drugs, which were smuggled in, may be involved.
Data shows that Evans is the seventh person to have died in custody since June 2023. One died of a stroke, one from fentanyl overdose, one from malnourishment and dehydration and two committed suicide. A sixth death, Jay Adkins, who died in May, is still under investigation.
In 2024, Warden Randall Hepp was charged with misconduct, while eight members of his staff were charged with felony inmate abuse in connection with the deaths of two of the prisoners, Cameron Williams and Donald Maier. Three of the eight staff members also were charged with misconduct. Hepp subsequently retired.
Additionally, federal authorities have been investigating a purported smuggling operation that involves employees at the Waupun prison. According to the office of Governor Tony Evers, around a dozen staffers have been suspended as a result of the investigation. In September, a former prison employee entered a guilty plea to smuggling drugs, cigarettes and telephones into the facility in return for cash. A class-action lawsuit has been filed by Waupun inmates who claim they were mistreated and not given enough medical attention.
As Wisconsin’s oldest penitentiary, built in 1850, the facility is included in Governor Evers’ half-billion dollar plan to reorganize the Wisconsin prison system. Evers wants to turn the site into a medium security lock-up that focuses on job training for the men incarcerated there.
