Waterbury police did not adequately monitor woman who died of overdose in custody
By: -----
Waterbury, CT - The Office of the Inspector General determined that the Waterbury Police Department did not adequately monitor a woman who died last year of an accidental overdose while in custody, according to a report released Friday.
Through the investigation, state Inspector General Eliot Prescott determined Alyssa Insogna, 29, likely smuggled drugs into the police department and consumed them at around 6:30 a.m. on May 10, 2025. Footage of Insogna’s cell showed that, after a fitful night, she last was seen moving at 9:34 a.m. on May 10. An employee then left food outside of the cell at noon while Insogna was motionless. Then, at 2:23 p.m., another employee entered the cell and found Insogna unresponsive, according to the investigation report.
Insogna was pronounced dead less than an hour later. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Insogna died of acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and fentanyl and ruled her death an accident.
Prescott noted that, at the time Insogna was found, her body exhibited signs of lividity and rigor mortis.
“Her death was accidental and not the result of use of force or criminal action,” Prescott said. “It is troubling, however, that from 9:34 a.m. on she remained motionless on the cell bench with no medical intervention. This was due to the inattention of [the matron] whose only job was to monitor Insogna.”
A matron is a civilian female employee of a law enforcement agency tasked with supervising and monitoring female prisoners, Prescott said.
“As a police matron with over twenty years of experience, Insogna’s lack of any movement for even one hour should have alerted her to a problem,” Prescott wrote. “Here, it was five hours.”
“[The matron] was likely tired having worked five of the previous seven shifts — including two overnight shifts,” he continued. “She also may have assumed that this shift was like the hundreds of shifts she had worked in the past when nothing negative had happened. Whatever the reason, she did not competently do her job.”
Waterbury Police Department policy requires that all prisoners be continuously monitored via video and that occupied cells be physically checked every 30 minutes.
“In Insogna’s case, the failure to comply with that policy requiring physical cell checks resulted in her being discovered long after there was any chance to reverse the effects of the drugs that she had taken,” Prescott wrote. “When discovered, her body was stiff and permanently discolored. This result is inconsistent with the intent of the policy.”
Insogna was arrested on the evening of Friday, May 9, 2025, and charged with interfering with an officer. She was also taken into custody on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.
At the police department, officers searched her and found a small bag concealed near her right ankle that contained 18 white wax paper folds containing a substance that tested positive for heroin/fentanyl. She was additionally charged with possession of narcotics with the intent to sell.
Insogna was not able to post the $15,000 total bonds and was held in custody pending a court appearance scheduled for Monday, May 12, 2025.
Prescott said that, after finding the drugs, officers did not perform a strip search or a body cavity search of Insogna. Video footage indicated Insogna may have concealed more drugs and consumed them around 6:30 a.m. on May 10 before flushing the packaging down the toilet, according to the investigation report.
Prescott said that the death of Insogna was accidental and not the result of force or criminal action, and he would take no further action in the case.