An inmate at Franklin Correctional Facility in Malone died Oct. 24, two days after being repeatedly kicked in the head during a fight inside a prison dormitory. The death is one of several violent incidents the correctional officers' union says unfolded at the medium-security facility over the course of about a week, alongside the discovery of homemade weapons, a cellphone and drug-soaked paper hidden among inmates.
According to mynbc5.com, the inmate who died was attacked on Oct. 22, when a surviving inmate punched and kicked him repeatedly in the head even as staff arrived to intervene. A preliminary investigation indicated the inmate who died had initiated the attack, according to wcax.com, though that finding has not been described as final. The injured inmate was taken to a hospital and died over the weekend, wcax.com reported.
Union Says Searches Turned Up Weapons, Drugs and a Phone
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which represents corrections staff, also detailed several other fights at Franklin Correctional Facility that took place between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23, per the station's report. Separately, wcax.com's account of the union's disclosure lists nine other recent incidents at the facility, ranging from inmate fighting to the discovery of contraband.
During the string of incidents, officers seized a cellphone and charger, icepick-style weapons, suspected drug-saturated paper and two gallons of homemade alcohol, the outlet reported. The incident that killed the inmate remained under investigation as of the union's disclosure, per the same account.
A Pattern of Violence at the North Country Prison
This is not the first stretch of turmoil reported at the Franklin facility. Back in May, staff broke up seven inmate fights over a three-day span from May 12 to May 14, according to a separate mynbc5.com report. One of those fights injured a sergeant and three corrections officers, and in another, an inmate snapped a broom handle over another inmate, while several fights involved inmates using chairs as weapons, the outlet reported at the time.
The Malone area has seen other troubling cases involving incarcerated people. A separate incident at Upstate Correctional Facility, also in Malone, involved the suspicious death of incarcerated man Antawon R. Johnson, who was reported killed by strangulation, according to nny360.com.
Statewide Numbers Tell a Mixed Story
The violence at Franklin comes amid broader statistical trends that paint a complicated picture of safety inside New York's prisons. The Correctional Association of New York reported a 10% overall decrease in assaults statewide in 2025, with assaults on incarcerated people down 11%, even as assaults on civilian staff rose 45%, according to the Correctional Association of New York. The same report found contraband-related incidents fell 9% overall, including a 17% drop in weapons contraband, while electronics contraband incidents jumped 71%. Reported Narcan use climbed from 811 incidents in 2024 to 1,071 in 2025, a 51% increase, the association found.
Separately, ny1.com reported that the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision recorded a 14% reduction in assaults on staff, an 11% reduction in assaults on incarcerated individuals, and a 42% reduction in excessive-force allegations in 2025, even as use-of-force incidents by correction staff more than doubled from 2015 to 2024. That report also noted the 2025 death of Messiah Nantwi and the 2024 death of Robert Brooks, both of whom were beaten by correction officers, according to ny1.com.
Under Section 624 of state Correction Law, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is required to notify a deceased incarcerated person's next of kin and any designated emergency contact when a death occurs in custody. The circumstances surrounding the Franklin Correctional Facility death remain under investigation.
