ST. ALBANS, Vt. (WCAX) – The family of a Vermont man who died from an overdose behind bars continues to question how he got the drugs.
It’s been about six months since 35-year-old Jeff Nichols died at the Northwest State Correctional Facility from a fentanyl overdose. Nichols’ parents spoke with reporters Tuesday outside of the Franklin County Courthouse. They say they want to know more about the people who were in the holding cell with their son the night he died, less than 30 hours after he arrived.
“Enough is enough. Six months a family has endured all kinds of hardship and can not find out what happened in the last hours of his death,” said Tony Nichols, Jeff’s father. “We want an independent investigation into the death of our son.”
Corrections officials say offenders sometimes swallow drug packets or hide them in body cavities before going to prison but the family believes he got the fatal dose from others already inside.
There were eight overdoses at Vermont prisons last year with two of them fatal, including Nichols.
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