Two Arkansas Department of Correction inmates died in the past week, a prison spokesman said Tuesday.
Inmate Albert Byerley, 67, died of "natural causes" at 11:28 a.m. Friday at National Park Medical Center in Hot Springs, prison spokesman Cathy Frye said in an email.
Byerley, who entered the prison system in October, was serving a 12-year sentence out of White County for second-degree murder. At the time of his death, Byerley was assigned to the Ouachita River Correctional Unit in Malvern.
Inmate Henry Williams, 65, died of "natural causes" at 3:19 a.m. Sunday at the Forrest City Medical Center, Frye said.
Williams, who entered the prison system in 2012, was serving a 25-year Pulaski County sentence for rape. At the time of his death, he was assigned to the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys.
Frye also released the name of an inmate who died March 1, but officials could not locate his next of kin.
Jerome Hernandez, 69, died of "natural causes" at 12:18 p.m. March 1 at CHI St. Vincent hospital. He was serving a life sentence for rape as a habitual offender in Pulaski County. Hernandez, who entered the prison system in 1997, was assigned to the Ouachita River Correctional Unit.
The Arkansas State Police was notified of the two most recent deaths but is not investigating, Frye said.
In January, prison officials stopped releasing a specific cause of death for inmates. Instead, each death is classified as "natural causes," unless there are special circumstances.
There have been 19 Arkansas prison deaths since Jan. 1; there were 56 deaths in 2014.
State Desk on 03/12/2015