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COVID-19

Second Coyote Ridge prisoner dies of COVID-19 amid outbreak

William A. Bryant, 72, died of COVID-19 on Monday, June 22, 2020, at a hospital in the Tri-Cities. He had been incarcerated at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell, Washington, serving a 68-month sentence for first-degree child molestation out of Grays Harbor County.  (Washington Department of Corrections)

A second prisoner has died of COVID-19 in an outbreak at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell, Washington.

William A. Bryant, 72, was serving a 68-month sentence for first-degree child molestation out of Grays Harbor County, according to the state Department of Corrections.

After contracting the novel coronavirus, Bryant was transferred on June 13 to a hospital in the Tri-Cities, where he died on Monday, the DOC said. He would have been released from prison, at the earliest, in April 2022.

Victor Bueno, 63, died of COVID-19 last week after being transferred to a hospital from Coyote Ridge. He was the first inmate in the state prison system to succumb to the disease.

The DOC previously reported the first COVID-19-related death of an employee, corrections Officer Berisford Anthony Morse, 65, who had worked at the Monroe Correctional Complex since 2003.

Confirmed infections have soared at Coyote Ridge since the first cluster of cases was discovered there in late May. The prison has locked down units and restricted movement throughout the facility to try to slow the spread of the virus.

According to the DOC, 110 inmates and 43 employees, including four trainees, at Coyote Ridge had tested positive as of Thursday. The department said 23 inmates displaying symptoms were in isolation, and another 1,851 inmates who had been exposed to the virus but weren’t symptomatic were in quarantine.

The DOC said it’s working with officials from the Benton Franklin Health District, the state Department of Health and the Washington National Guard to test Coyote Ridge inmates and employees.

As of Wednesday, 18 inmates with COVID-19 were receiving treatment in a recently established care facility at the Airway Heights Corrections Center, the DOC said.

The department this week added a column on its website to track COVID-19-related deaths alongside confirmed cases.