Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Another Inmate Suicide Reported At State-Run Florence Prison

dreamstime.com

Authorities say an inmate at the state prison in Florence has died of an apparent  suicide. Officials with the Arizona Department of Corrections said Monday that 43-year-old Mario DeLuna died “from an apparent act of self-harm by hanging.” Prison staff say they discovered DeLuna unresponsive in his assigned housing location Saturday morning. He was pronounced dead by responding paramedics. DeLuna was sentenced in 2019 out of Maricopa County on one count of dangerous drug violation and narcotic drug violation. All Arizona inmate deaths are investigated in consultation with the county medical examiner’s office. An independent data analysis conducted in 2020 by NPR member station KJZZ in Phoenix shows a “years-long surge in incidents of self-harm among inmates.” According to the data, annual incidents of self-harm in Arizona’s state-run prisons have increased more than 360%.

Gillian Ferris was the News Director and Managing Editor for KNAU.