Visitation resumes at most prisons after Bent County inmate deaths
Two inmates died at Bent County Correctional Facility, and CDOC lifted a statewide visitation ban a day later, leaving Las Animas with unanswered questions.
Visitation has resumed at most Colorado prisons after two inmates were killed at Bent County Correctional Facility in Las Animas, but the private prison where the deaths occurred remains on lockdown and still has visiting suspended. The rapid reversal has put the Department of Corrections under scrutiny in Bent County, where families, employees and nearby communities are still waiting for a clearer account of what happened inside the facility.
The incident unfolded Saturday, June 6, 2026, at the CoreCivic-run prison about 85 miles east of Pueblo. CDOC said two inmates died and a third was injured and taken to an outside medical facility. The Bent County Coroner’s Office identified the dead men as Charles Gates and Michael Fisher. Gates was serving a nine-year sentence for aggravated motor vehicle theft, theft, vehicular eluding, second-degree burglary, second-degree assault and distribution, manufacture and sale of fentanyl. Fisher was serving life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and robbery.
CDOC suspended visitation statewide on June 7, then lifted the ban at all facilities except Bent County Correctional Facility on June 8. Phone service at BCCF was restored the evening of June 7, but the prison remained in secure lockdown Monday, with visitation still barred there. Officials said there was no active threat to the community and no staff members were hurt.
The unanswered questions now center on why the statewide suspension was imposed so quickly, why it was lifted so soon at 19 state-run prisons and one other private facility, and what safety review followed the deaths in Las Animas. CDOC’s Office of the Inspector General is leading the investigation, and the case will go to the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review and possible charging decisions once the investigation is complete.
The Bent County facility has long been a significant part of the local correctional landscape. Built by Bent County, it opened in 1993 as Colorado’s first private correctional facility, and CoreCivic bought it in October 1996. CDOC says it houses inmates at 21 facilities across Colorado, including 19 state-run prisons and two private prisons, making any disturbance at BCCF a matter that reaches far beyond Las Animas County.
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