SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (John Hult / South Dakota Searchlight) – The state Division of Criminal Investigation will lead an inquiry into the eighth suspected fatal overdose in South Dakota’s prison system this year.
The state Department of Corrections announced the Thanksgiving night death of 37-year-old Larry Thomas Dukes Franklin on Friday. Franklin was incarcerated at the South Dakota State Penitentiary’s maximum security Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls.
DCI spokesman Tony Mangan confirmed that the agency is investigating the situation as a suspected overdose.
Franklin’s death is the fourth this month in the state’s prison system. Overdoses are suspected in two of the other November deaths, of 33-year-old Travis Long Fox at the penitentiary, and 46-year-old Timothy Tyree at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield.
Shane Ostercamp, 44, also died in November. He died in a comfort care setting in Springfield.
Five other inmates died of suspected or confirmed overdoses this year before November, all but one from a synthetic drug known as “K2” or “spice.”
Attorney General Marty Jackley has indicted a handful of people in and outside the prison system for drug distribution, including one former corrections officer. Of the eight total suspected overdose deaths this year, four occurred after Jackley announced the most recent round of charges in mid-September. One of the deaths occured less than a week after the press conference announcing them.
Twenty-two men have now died in Department of Corrections custody in calendar year 2025, the highest figure in recent memory. In addition to the drug deaths, four died by suicide and others died of natural causes.
