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3d ago

Jessup Inmate Death Investigated as Homicide After Fellow Prisoner Named as Suspect

State police plan to present the case to Anne Arundel prosecutors for charging review.

Maryland correctional officers at Jessup Correctional Institution routinely had their timecards altered and were shorted nearly a half-million dollars in wages over a two-year period, a federal investigation showed. The U.S. Department of Labor is now investigating similar allegations involving other state institutions.
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Jessup Correctional Institution. (Luke Parker/Staff)

Overview

  • Deon Sheridan Smith Jr., 23, was found unresponsive in Building F at Jessup Correctional Institution on Dec. 13 and was pronounced dead by emergency medical services.
  • Maryland State Police say another inmate has been identified as a suspect, whose name will be withheld until charges are filed.
  • Investigators are treating the death as a criminal case that will be forwarded to the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney.
  • Smith had been incarcerated at Jessup since February 2024 and was serving a life sentence after a felony murder conviction in Baltimore County.
  • The death comes less than two weeks after indictments alleged three contraband smuggling schemes involving staff at the facility, as state data show 68 inmate deaths statewide in 2025, including 15 at Jessup.