9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Dept. of Corrections investigates inmate death, leaked photo

9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Dept. of Corrections investigates inmate death, leaked photo



STERLING - The Colorado Department of Corrections has launched an investigation into who sent 9Wants to Know a graphic investigative picture of a bloody inmate murdered in his cell at the Sterling Correctional Facility.

Cleveland Flood, 38, was found dead about midnight on Saturday, according to Katherine Sanguinetti, spokesperson with the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC). Flood lived in the Denver area before going to prison and was serving a 48-year prison sentence for burglary.
Two inmates have been separated from the general prison population and are under investigation in connection with the murder, 9Wants to Know has learned.
Sanguinetti was unable to say where in the prison the death happened or how Flood died, due to the on-going investigation. She also was unable to release the name of the suspects, but says they are inmates at the correctional facility.
Sanguinetti says the death is being investigated as a homicide, which is standard procedure at DOC facilities.
"This [the murder] is something we take very seriously," Sanguinetti said.
Flood's mother told 9Wants to Know that DOC employee Mary Cox first told her Flood did not die a bloody death.
"I asked her, 'Was there any blood?' She said, 'No there was no blood. There was nothing wrong with him. That's why we don't know if it was a homicide or suicide,'" Linda Sanchez said Tuesday.
A photo sent to 9Wants to Know showed the blood-covered scene where the victim was found. Blood covers one wall and a sink in the cell.
The DOC considers the picture very sensitive to its investigation, Sanguinetti said.
"When something like this happens it is hard on everyone: the victim's family, the staff who has investigated the incident and other inmates," Sanguinetti said of the crime scene photo being released.
The Logan County Coroner's Office says an autopsy was conducted, but the cause of death is pending the result of tests.
Flood is originally from Denver. He has an extensive criminal history, including seven burglary, one vandalism and one contraband convictions, plus two escape convictions for failing to check in during parole.
Sanchez says she wants more information from the prison and not knowing what happened to her son makes the pain stronger.
"I don't know what to do. That's my baby and it's hard. It's really hard," Sanchez said as she clutched a picture of her son.
"Now that he's gone, I sit here and pray for him," she said.
Sterling Correctional Center is the same prison where Douglas Alward escaped in August. In a 9Wants to Know investigation, the investigators showed it was Alward's seventh escape from custody.
When Alward was captured, the head of the Department of Corrections ordered a top-to-bottom review of guard and inmate security policies.
The DOC says there were four murders in their facilities statewide last year. The DOC houses about 23,000 inmates.