Third Waupun prison death ruled a stroke, with timing still under investigation

Vanessa Swales and Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read

The death of Cameron J. Williams at Waupun Correctional Institution last October has been ruled a stroke, according to a medical examiner’s determination released Tuesday.

Williams, 24, was found dead by correctional staff on Oct. 30, 2023. He had multiple blood clots in his brain that caused the stroke, according to Dodge County Medical Examiner PJ Schoebel.

Schoebel said the medical examiner's office and the Dodge County Sheriff's Office are still investigating how long Williams was dead before he was found by staff. The two offices do not know when that part of the investigation will be closed, according to Schoebel.

Cameron Williams, 24, died inside his cell at Waupun Correctional Institution in October. Prisoners allege he was sick days prior and prison staff failed to properly care for Williams. His cause of death is under investigation.
Cameron Williams, 24, died inside his cell at Waupun Correctional Institution in October. Prisoners allege he was sick days prior and prison staff failed to properly care for Williams. His cause of death is under investigation.

In an interview Wednesday, Williams' mother, Raven Anderson, said she was shaken by the medical examiner's findings. She questioned how someone so young could die of a stroke, and whether her son received proper attention from prison staff in his final moments.

"I just cannot accept a stroke," Anderson said. "I'm not happy with this at all."

Anderson described her son as an energetic and artistic young man who had developmental issues but was "good in the books" when growing up in Chicago.

The state's Department of Corrections did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Williams was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 for burglary and bail jumping. At the time of his death, he had an open case for allegedly assaulting prison staff.

Williams was the third of four incarcerated men to have died during the Waupun prison's long-criticized lockdown period that began in March of last year.

Last June, Dean Hoffmann, 60, was the first person to die during the lockdown. Early last month, his family filed a lawsuit against DOC, claiming that correctional staff failed to administer Hoffmann his psychiatric medications in the months leading up to his suicide.

On Tuesday, the Dodge County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that 30-year-old Tyshun Lemons' death at Waupun on Oct. 2 was caused by an accidental overdose of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl.

A DOC spokesperson declined to comment on Lemons' death until the department was finished reviewing the medical examiner's autopsy report.

The Dodge County Sheriff's Office has not closed its investigations into Williams' and Lemons' deaths.

The Dodge County Medical Examiner's Office is still investigating the fourth Waupun prisoner's death. Donald W. Maier, 62, died at the facility late last month. Schoebel acknowledged that it would be "quite some time" until the cause and manner of death would be determined. DOC also declined to comment on Maier's death on Monday.

Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or at vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on X @Vanessa_Swales. Drake Bentley can be reached at 414-391-5647 or at dbentley1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Third Waupun prison death ruled a stroke, timing still under investigation