Dover, DE --The Delaware Department of Correction (DOC) today announced that 61 year-old inmate Fred Clanton from Sussex Correctional Institution, died on Tuesday, August 11 at Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus from complications from diabetes, hypertension, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and COVID.
Clanton was initially tested negative for COVID-19 on July 4. It was part of DOC administered proactive testing of all inmates after an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Clanton was among a group of three dozen SCI inmates with chronic conditions who were moved in early July to James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (JTVCC) to be in a non-COVID environment. He received daily symptom checks, including temperature and pulse oxygen level, and when he registered a fever on July 15 he was tested again. This time he tested positive. Clanton was then transferred to the JTVCC COVID-19 Treatment Center. He was later admitted to Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus for treatment on July 20. As Clanton's condition continued to deteriorate he was placed on comfort care. He was pronounced dead by hospital staff at 1:10 p.m. on August 11. Clanton's body was released to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science to determine cause of death. Clanton, from Bridgeville, DE, has been in DOC custody since 2018. He was serving a three-year sentence for Drug Dealing. He was sentenced as an habitual offender, including a previous conviction as a sex offender.