Prisoner's Family Demands Autopsy After Unexplained Sudden Death

NEWARK, NJ — Ulisses Rodriguez wasn’t on drugs. He was in good health. And according to his family members, there was no sign that anything was wrong with the 46-year-old state prison inmate, who they called a “vibrant soul” with a deep love for the Bible.

But on the day after Thanksgiving, Rodriguez died while locked in his cell at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newark. Now, his unexpected death has his family demanding a private autopsy to see if any “foul play” was involved in his sudden passing.

Jessie Rodriguez said that her father – who was imprisoned for violating parole after he originally went to jail for manslaughter - was in good health when she spoke to him around 11 a.m. on Nov. 24. But later that day, her family got a call from prison administrators that changed their lives: Ulisses was dead.

Rodriguez’s death was difficult enough on its own. But a Kafkaesque quest to find out what happened to her father was about to begin, according to his daughter.

According to Rodriguez’s family:

“Northern State Prison officials refuse to let us know how he died. They will not give us any information. They will not let us know if there was a physical altercation, a fight, if paramedics were called, if resuscitation efforts were made. We are only told that it is still under investigation by the [New Jersey Department of Corrections] and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and therefore no information can be disclosed.”

The Rodriguez family continued:

“The supervising social worker at Northern State Correctional Facility… informed my sister that she nor anyone else in the facility will provide us with any details pertaining to his death. Administrators refused to take our call and referred us to the special investigation department in the prison where they reiterated the same thing. Five days later, authorities from the prison are still unable to explain to us the cause of his death and refuse to give us any details as to what happened.”

• See related article: 1 In 10 New Jersey Inmates Will Likely Die In Jail, Report Says

The family has since started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money to cover expenses for a funeral and a private autopsy.

A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) confirmed that Rodriguez passed away at Northern State Prison on Nov. 24 at the age of 46, and was in NJDOC custody since March 23, 2012, following a parole violation. His max out date was February 10, 2021.

The DOC spokesperson referred further questions to the Essex County Medical Examiner's Office, which bumped the request to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

A spokesperson with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday that the agency is “awaiting a final autopsy report" and declined to comment further.

Patch will update this article with any reply we receive.

According to the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Northern State Prison is located on 43 acres in Newark and houses a "diverse offender population" in General Population, Special Needs, Administrative Close Supervision units (inmates who have incurred serious disciplinary charges) and Therapeutic Community units (addictive behaviors).

“Uli’s death is very suspicious,” his family stated. “Especially considering the history of corruption in the New Jersey state prison system. Constant violation of human rights and prisoner rights violations are an integrated part of the New Jersey correctional system... corruption is an intricate part of the prison industry here.”

• See related article: Embattled West Caldwell Prison Company Keeps Getting N.J. Contracts

“In the short time that he was incarcerated at Northern State Correctional Facility, [Rodriguez] made many friends,” his family wrote. “One of the inmates at Northern State Correctional Facility called his mother in tears stating how distraught he was and how you could hear so many inmates crying and screaming on Friday when Uli passed away.”

Rodriguez isn’t the only inmate at Northern State Prison to unexpectedly die in his cell in the past year. Last November of 2016, prison authorities found a male inmate lifeless in his cell around 9 p.m., pronouncing him dead about 30 minutes later.

• See related article: Inmate Dies At Newark's Northern State Prison

Civil rights activists and families of inmates have decried conditions at other prisons throughout the state for years.

In June, dozens of activists gathered for an emotional protest at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny after a 35-year-old Honduran immigrant and father of three experienced "gastrointestinal bleeding" and was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, dying a short time later.

• See related article: Dozens Protest At Hudson County Jail After Immigrant Dies

In January, Newark city officials closed down the notorious Green Street municipal holding facility after years of complaints, including suicides, rats and “serious problems with overcrowding and sanitation.”

• See related article: Newark Closes Green Street Jail: Suicides, Rats Reported

In June of 2016, a Honduran native in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody died while housed at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

• See related article: ICE Immigrant Detainee Dies In Essex County, Prisoner Death Toll Increases

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Photo: Ulisses and Jessie Rodriguez, used with permission

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