KZRG News Latest News News Joplin MO Trending

Hutchinson Correctional Facility Resident Death

Illinois Prisons Health Care — FILE - Security fences surround the Illinois Department of Corrections' Logan Correctional Center, Nov. 18, 2016, in Lincoln, Ill. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration has retained a contentious choice for providing medical care to prison inmates, awarding Wexford Health Sources a 10-year, $4.16 billion contract despite high vacancy rates, complaints of substandard care and lawmakers' agitation to find a replacement. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Hutchinson Correctional Facility (HCF) resident Watson Kevin Bradford, 51, died Wednesday, April 3, 2024. He was found unresponsive in his cell Wednesday afternoon. Staff began life-saving measures immediately and continued after emergency medical services arrived. Mr. Bradford was pronounced deceased by medical staff. The cause of death is pending the results of an independent autopsy.

Per protocol, when a resident dies in the custody of the KDOC, the death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Bradford was serving a life sentence, for convictions of first-degree murder, attempted robbery, and forgery committed in Leavenworth County, Kansas