Carl Robert Talbot.
(Updated Sunday) How did an inmate die at the Whalley Avenue jail Thursday?
The state police’s Central District Major Crime Unit is now tasked with exploring that question.
Among the people waiting for answers will be the New Haven family of the dead man, whose name was Carl Robert Talbot. The family said Talbot struggled with “serious mental health issues” his whole life and failed to receive the help he needed from the system.
The state unit began the investigation after an incident — officially labeled “Offender Death” — that occurred early Thursday morning at the state pre-trial detention facility.
The incident began at around 6:45 a.m. when an inmate “refused to exit the shower area,” according to a release from Andrius Banevicius, spokesperson for the state Department of Correction, which runs the facility.
The inmate, Talbot, was 30 years old and came from New Haven. According to the state’s database, he was arrested on a breach of peace charge on March 19; he had an arraignment scheduled for March 29. He’d been arrested for misdemeanors in the past. He was in jail this week on charges of violating conditions of probation.
Staff members “were able to restrain” the inmate in the jails’ medical unit “after several attempts,” Banevicius reported. “Shortly thereafter, the offender became unresponsive,” including to staff “lifesaving measures.” He was pronounced dead at 9:40 a.m. at the hospital, where he had been taken by ambulance.
“We are shocked and completely devastated by the tragic death of Robby who we all loved so deeply,” Talbot’s family wrote in a release to the media.
“He was a loving person who would never harm a soul, cherished and beloved by his large, supportive family and circle of friends.
“Robby was a complicated and kind young man, incarcerated for breach of peace related to the serious mental health conditions he had lived with since childhood. Despite engaging in decades of treatment and recovery, he was more often failed by systems of help which are severely under-resourced.
“We will await the results of the investigation into the pepper-spray and restraint tactics that were used on him in the medical unit of the New Haven Correctional Center.”
In addition to the state police probe, the Department of Correction is performing an internal investigation. A correctional lieutenant has been placed on administrative leave.