Photo by AlbinoFlea

An inmate at D.C. Jail died last week. While the autopsy has not come back yet for 70-year-old Lester Irby, advocates are connecting the dots between the conditions at D.C. Jail during the heat wave and his death last Thursday.

According to a statement from the D.C. Department of Corrections, Irby was transported to a local hospital “after becoming ill at the jail. He later expired of apparent natural causes … We have no reason to believe that there is a correlation between elevated temperatures and this inmate’s death.”

However, NBC 4 reports that advocates are skeptical of DOC’s claims, with Deborah Golden, the director of the DC Prisoners’ Project, calling it “a matter of time” before conditions inside the jail led to an inmate’s death.

NBC says that “an inmate inside the jail called News4 on Friday, after watching a 4 p.m. broadcast, and said officials found that at 5 a.m. Friday, his cell was 87 degrees. For days, News4 has received complaints from inmates and their loved ones about conditions inside the jail as temperatures have hit the 90s.”

Sylvia Lane, a spokesperson for DOC, told DCist that any links between the jail’s heat and Irby’s death are “totally, totally unsubstantiated. That is misinformation.” DOC is waiting for the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

But the agency isn’t denying that heat is a problem at the 40-year-old jail, which holds more than 1,200 inmates.

DOC says that it’s “working closely with the Department of General Services on system improvements to address temperatures in the DC Jail. An HVAC contractor has been on site and completing work to enhance the airflow and circulation systems.”

Issues at the jail are not new—a report last year from the Washington Lawyers’ Committee (where Golden works) details “active infestation of vermin/pests,” crumbling infrastructure, mold growth, and a leaking roof. Heavy rain caused leaks that forced DOC to move more than 120 inmates in Februrary, NBC 4 reported.

D.C. issued a solicitation for guidelines for a new central detention facility this May.

Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, released a statement on Irby’s death that renewed his call for a new jail. “Anything less is a temporary fix, at best,” he said, pointing to the $5 million in the budget allocated towards the design of a new facility.

Updated with comment from Councilmember McDuffie.