A 33-year-old inmate, Travis Long Fox, died Friday while in the custody of the South Dakota Department of Corrections, marking yet another in-custody death during a period where fatalities in state prisons have sharply increased. Long Fox had been hospitalized in Sioux Falls since Tuesday, after he was found unresponsive in his cell at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. No additional details about his medical condition or circumstances have been released.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation will review the death, as it has done in other recent cases. Long Fox’s death is the fifth inmate fatality under active DCI investigation since February. Two people were criminally charged earlier this year for allegedly providing drugs that led to overdose deaths of two inmates. In addition, two other inmate death investigations remain ongoing.
So far, 19 incarcerated men have died in state custody this calendar year, the highest total in at least ten years. Among those deaths, at least four were suicides and at least three were overdoses. The Department of Corrections tracks its data by fiscal year. The previous fiscal year, ending June 30, 2025, recorded 19 inmate deaths — the highest since 2018. Long Fox’s death brings the current fiscal year’s total to seven.
