An inmate at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution has died after being taken to a Lincoln hospital. Prison officials identify him as 22 year old Daelan Lamere.
Staff at Tecumseh were alerted to Lamere’s cell on May 27 where he was unresponsive and having difficulty breathing. He was taken by ambulance to Johnson County Hospital and later transferred to Bryan West in Lincoln where he remained until his death on Tuesday.
Lamere was sentenced 6 to 11 years in Douglas County for four counts of robbery and one count of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. His sentence began October 30, 2013 and he had a tentative release date of September 4, 2020.
The Nebraska State Patrol is investigate Lamere’s death. The official cause of death has not been determined but reports indicate Lamere tested positive for methamphetamine and ecstacy at the hospital.
As is the case whenever an inmate dies in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, a grand jury will conduct an investigation.
“NDCS is diligent in its efforts to keep contraband from entering facilities and to prevent/detect the manufacture of dangerous contraband within,” says director Scott Frakes. “More than 80 percent of our population has some level of substance abuse issues, which creates an environment of demand. The work we do watching, searching, and working our intelligence network reduces the problem, but it doesn’t eliminate it.”