PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Jeffrey Clouser would have celebrated a birthday inside the Plainfield Correction Facility of the Indiana Department of Correction this week.
“He would have been 61 this year and it was really hard for his birthday because our family has been left without so many answers,” Clouser’s daughter told FOX59/CBS4 News.
The family’s quest for answers began July 4 of this year when it was advised that Clouser, serving a five-year sentence for a habitual OWI conviction, was found dead in his prison cell.
”I learned that my dad had got beat to death by another inmate,” said Clouser’s daughter, who asked for anonymity to protect her from retaliation. ”From what I’d seen on camera, the suspect did enter my dad’s cellblock room on three different occasions, he stole my dad’s personal property, beat him to death.
“Half of my dad’s face was beaten.”
Indiana State Police said the case is still under investigation.
An inmates’ advocacy group claims it has documented more than one hundred deaths in Indiana county jails in 2023.
The causes of death run the gamut from suicide, substance abuse, homicide and injuries.
FOX59/CBS4 has recorded more than a dozen deaths in central Indiana local and state facilities this year.
”We have 92 counties, we have 22 correctional facilities and it can happen in any county, in any prison system,” said Maranda Williams of Reform Alliance. ”We have to change the myth and the stereotypes and the conversation that a person is not worthy of quality of life while they’re incarcerated. We can’t wash our hands and say, well, this is what they deserve for being in this situation because nobody deserves to have to deal with a preventable death.”
An attorney representing the Clouser family said his clients are seeking compensation from IDOC for not protecting the inmate and monitoring his conditions as well as seeking changes to IDOC rules.
“They’ve gotta look at their policies and procedures,” said Harvey Lancaster. “They’ve gotta make sure that if they are going to incarcerate people and hold them in cells that these people are safe.”
On its website, IDOC lists as its Mission Statement, “We promote public safety by providing meaningful effective opportunities for successful re-entry to the incarcerated individuals in our care.”
The IDOC provided the following statement when asked about the investigation in Clouser's death:
The Indiana Department of Correction is dedicated to the safety and security of those in its care. The Indiana State Police is conducting an investigation into the death of incarcerated individual Jeffrey Clouser and the Indiana Department of Correction does not comment on pending investigations or litigation. For information regarding the investigation, please contact the Indiana State Police.
Indiana Department of Correction