Suffolk jail inmate dies, official says
TOfficials said the inmate, who was here in the Suffolk County Jail in Yaphank, was not involved in any altercation. Credit: Newsday/Doug Kuntz
A 28-year-old inmate at the Suffolk County Jail died Saturday morning at a hospital from “health-related issues,” a jail spokesman said.
Chief Michael Sharkey of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office identified the inmate as Calvin Young of Mastic Beach. Young had been incarcerated at the Yaphank facility since last November on a parole violation for drug possession and loitering charges.
On Saturday morning, according to Sharkey, Young “appeared to be in some type of distress, he lost consciousness, he was given CPR at the facility,” and about 9:30 a.m. he was “transported via ambulance to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead.”
Young’s death, Sharkey said, “appears to be [due to] health-related issues. It doesn’t appear to be any altercation of any kind involved.”
Sharkey said he could not provide any information on Young’s medical history or any current health issues.
Young’s court-appointed attorney, Scott Gross of Garden City, said he had not been alerted to his client’s death until reached by Newsday.
"We are truly saddened by the passing of Calvin Young," Gross said. "His life was cut too short. We will work with the authorities to determine the manner and cause of his death."
Sharkey said the sheriff’s department is investigating the circumstances of Young’s death, as is customary in all inmate deaths. The New York State Commission of Correction will also investigate.
Young entered the Yaphank jail after he was arrested by Suffolk County police on a felony charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance, an unspecified narcotic, and a misdemeanor count of loitering on Nov. 2, according to online court records. He was ordered held in custody at his arraignment on a $75,000 bond or $25,000 cash bail. He was due back in court next month.
Young was arrested by Nassau County police in 2009 on robbery and assault charges and later pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree robbery, according to online records. He was sentenced then to 6 years and 6 months in prison.
Young, who grew up in Bellport, was a father to 6-month-old Anari, the daughter he shared with his girlfriend Danielle Locke, 29, of Shirley.
“I don’t know what happened,” a crying Locke said in phone interview Saturday afternoon. “We’re waiting for an autopsy.”
Locke described Young as “healthy,” but said he took medication, although she didn’t know what it was or what it treated.
Locke said she spoke to Young Friday night to discuss their daughter’s ear infection and he sounded “fine.” She last saw him in a visit at the jail on Tuesday night, she said.
“He was a good guy, a really good guy,” she said through tears. “He had his moments but he was a good guy. He didn’t really get to see his daughter.”
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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