IBERVILLE PARISH — On the heels of the Department of Corrections holding a news conference to explain the focus on “unexpected deaths” at Elayn Hunt, one more inmate has now died as of Tuesday morning and a second inmate was transported to a hospital.
“The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections can confirm a 43-year-old inmate at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center died Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. The inmate’s name is currently being withheld pending notification to the family. The death is being classified as undetermined and is under investigation. No further details will be provided at this time,” the Dept. of Corrections stated in a news release.
Later Tuesday afternoon, the Department updated that the inmate’s name was Walter Lewis. His death is under investigation and an autopsy will be requested.
UWK has learned another inmate was transported to a hospital on Tuesday morning from Hunt, but no further information was provided on that inmate’s current condition.
Dept. of Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott pushed back on media coverage of the unexpected deaths at Elayn Hunt, saying that these deaths do not necessarily mean unnatural causes.
“Unexpected does not mean ‘overdose.’ I’m going to repeat that: unexpected does not mean ‘overdose.’ Unexpected medical issues and suspected overdoses are all labeled unexpected until an autopsy is completed,” Westcott said.
Westcott and other officials at the conference discussed the role substance abuse disorders and other issues play in the health and safety of incarcerated individuals at Hunt and other correctional facilities.
“When I became secretary at the recommendation of Chief Seth Smith, we replaced the deputy warden position at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center with a hospital administrator position, due to the aging and ailing population in that prison that are having the same illnesses that all of us see and deal with in the free world. Yes, this includes serious drug addiction issues,” he said.
Elayn Hunt’s newly appointed warden, Travis Day, provided the following breakdown of those incarcerated at the Hunt facility:
- 86% of the population is on medications.
- The average number of medications ordered per inmate is seven.
- Approximately 50 inmates are housed in what is considered a hospital setting.
- Around 140 are housed in a setting similar to a nursing home.
- 45% of inmates have mental health diagnoses.
- 70% of inmates are diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder.
According to the Dept. of Corrections, there were 18 unexpected deaths total in 2025, eight of them died between September and December. A total of 33 inmates died unexpectedly in 2024.
In 2025, Seth Smith, Chief of Prison Operations, said that of the 18 unexpected deaths total: 11 were natural causes, one was suicide, two were overdoses and four are still pending autopsy.
According to Smith, Hunt houses inmates with the most health or mental health issues, and serves as the Dept. of Corrections’ primary intake facility. In addition, Hunt is one of three centers in Louisiana that holds life sentence inmates without a waiver.
Because of this, the majority of the deaths at the facility are natural causes, he said.
Smith added that deaths at Louisiana’s correctional centers can be seen online. The most current data on the site is from 2024.
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