Mar 03, 2021

Kan. inmate dies just days after move to different prison

Posted Mar 03, 2021 7:00 PM
SOTO-RODRIGUEZ-photo KDOC
SOTO-RODRIGUEZ-photo KDOC

TOPEKA —An El Dorado Correctional Facility resident 30-year-old Juan Soto-Rodriguez died Sunday, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

The cause of death is pending an autopsy. Preliminary assessment indicates the death was not related to COVID-19.

Soto-Rogriguez was serving a 95-month sentence for intent to distribute heroin or meth, according to the state department of corrections web site.

He had been imprisoned with KDOC since February 2018 and had ten reports of disciplinary issues over the past two years while at the Norton Correctional facility, according to the KDOC. He had been moved from Norton to El Dorado on February 25.

Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of the KDOC, the death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The 1,955 bed El Dorado Correctional Facility opened in 1991 and was expanded in 1995 and 2001. The facility is designed for maximum- and medium-custody residents and serves as the Reception and Diagnostic Unit (RDU) for all adult males sentenced to KDOC.