An inmate at the El Dorado Correctional Facility dies in custody.

 

According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, 67-year-old Eddie Holmes Jr. was discovered unresponsive in his cell on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at the Butler County facility. Prison staff alerted EMS and began life-saving measures. Holmes was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced deceased. His cause of death will be determined by an independent autopsy.

 

Holmes was serving a 19-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter for the 2024 shooting death of Reginald Privette in Topeka.

 

Whenever an individual dies while in custody in a Kansas prison, the death is investigated by KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

 

The investigation remains ongoing.