2 people die while incarcerated at Sing Sing amid officers' unauthorized strike

Two men died while incarcerated at the maximum-security Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Westchester County on Wednesday, according to the state agency that oversees the prison system.

Anthony Douglas, 67, and Franklyn Dominguez, 35, were pronounced dead after they were found unresponsive in their respective cells at the Ossining prison within a five-hour period Wednesday, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed Thursday afternoon.

The deaths happened as New York state corrections officers continued a wildcat strike at more than two dozen prisons across the state, including Sing Sing. The officers’ strike stretched into its 11th day on Thursday. They’re protesting what they say are unsafe working conditions and a state law that has restricted the use of solitary confinement, which they say has further put their safety at risk.

The Westchester County medical examiner had not released the men’s official causes of death as of Thursday afternoon, and it wasn’t clear whether there was any connection — direct or indirect — to the ongoing strike.

The Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, which advocates for the incarcerated population, said the deaths illustrate worsening conditions within New York’s prisons as state officials say as many as 9 out of 10 corrections officers have walked off the job and the National Guard has been called in for support.

“With tens of thousands of incarcerated people on lockdown – meaning they are effectively in solitary confinement – suffering, despair and deaths are only increasing,” the campaign's director, Jose Saldana, said in a statement. “The governor needs to hold accountable all guards who abandoned their duties and use all available means to safely resolve the crisis of overincarceration.”

James Miller, a spokesperson for the NYS Corrections Officers & Police Benevolent Association, declined to comment on Thursday while the causes of death were still being determined.

The deaths at Sing Sing followed the death of a man incarcerated at the Auburn Correctional Facility in central New York over the weekend. State officials say 61-year-old Jonathan Grant was found unresponsive in his cell at Auburn.

Douglas had been in state custody for nearly 40 years after he was convicted of rape, murder and burglary in Brooklyn, according to the state corrections department. Dominguez had been in custody since 2022 for an assault conviction in Manhattan.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration and the corrections officers’ union met for a fourth day of mediation on Thursday in hopes of working out a deal to end the strike. The union has not sanctioned the strike, which the state says is illegal under New York’s Taylor law, but it has presented the state with the officers’ demands.

Among other things, officers have been pushing for repeal of a state law known as the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, which places strict limits on how long guards can keep people in solitary confinement and in which cases they can use it. The officers are also looking for pay and pension increases, which they say would help recruit at a time when the state’s prison system is chronically understaffed. The walkouts began in the days before a special prosecutor charged 10 employees at Marcy Correctional Facility in connection with the death of Robert Brooks, including charging six of them with murder. The employees have pleaded not guilty.

Hochul has proposed closing five prisons as a way to alleviate the staffing crisis, after closing two last year. She points to the state’s declining incarcerated population, which has decreased by about half since its peak in 1999.

State police have been serving officers court orders directing them to return to work. On Tuesday, the state named hundreds of officers in a court challenge, a move that could precipitate contempt of court arrests if they continue to participate in the work stoppage.

Wednesday’s mediation session between Hochul’s administration and the union stretched until midnight, according to Miller, the union spokesperson. He said the union was anticipating a formal offer from the state to entice officers back to work on Thursday.

On Thursday, the state corrections department issued a statement saying “all parties remain committed to finding a path toward a fair and timely resolution” to the strike.

“The confidential talks have been constructive and we remain hopeful that continued dialogue will bring this situation to a close in a way that ensures the stability of the state’s prisons and safety of everyone involved,” according to the agency’s statement.

The agency's statement thanked staff who continue to report to work, as well as the thousands of National Guard members who have been called in to secure the facilities and offer support.