VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that an inmate at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center died Monday night.
Joseph Sisson, Jr.
During medical rounds at 10:50 p.m. Monday, a deputy accompanied by a medical technician tried to wake 69-year-old Joseph Sisson, Jr., to receive his medication. Sisson did not respond and could not be revived despite resuscitation attempts by jail medical staff and Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services.
Sisson was declared dead at 11:38 p.m.
Sisson was responsive when a deputy last checked on him as part of routine rounds at 10:41 p.m., several minutes before he was found unresponsive. Although he had pre-existing medical and mental health conditions for which he was prescribed medication, there was no indication that he was in any medical distress leading up to his death.
The incident remains under investigation by the Virginia Beach Police Department and the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office Professional Standards Office. As part of requirements, the Sheriff’s Office has reported Sisson’s death to the Virginia Department of Corrections.
Although no foul play is suspected, Sisson’s cause and manner of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner in Norfolk.
Sisson was booked into the Virginia Beach Correctional Center on November 20, 2017, on four misdemeanor charges: battery of a health care provider, disorderly conduct on hospital grounds, preventing a law enforcement officer from making an arrest (fleeing) and resisting arrest.
