Mass. prisons to review surge in suicides among inmates

The Massachusetts Department of Correction announced it has hired an independent expert to review a half-dozen suicides or suspected suicides among incarcerated men this year.

The sixth and most recent fatality occurred Sunday at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center , where the prisoner died of an apparent suicide, the agency said in a statement. The death occurred five days after another apparent suicide at the facility on Oct. 28.

Another man killed himself at Souza on April 10, the DOC said. The first suicide of the year occurred on Jan. 22 at MCI-Shirley, the statement said.

The number of fatalities diverged dramatically from previous years, the agency said. No one in DOC custody died by suicide last year, and there was a single suicide among the inmate population in 2023 and ag