Inmate death at Shelton prison probed as apparent homicide

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, November 21, 2017

By Abby Spegman / The Olympian

A 57-year-old inmate serving a life sentence for child molestation at the Washington Corrections Center near Shelton died over the weekend, according to the state’s Department of Corrections.

In a news release, the department said Bryan Emmal died after “sustaining injuries in his two-person cell” shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday.

Local law enforcement was investigating Emmal’s death as an apparent homicide. Department of Corrections officials planned to conduct a critical incident review.

Emmal was a medium-custody inmate at the Washington Corrections Center, which houses about 1,270 men in medium, close and maximum custody. Emmal began serving a life sentence Sept. 8 after he was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Thurston County.

Emmal’s cellmate, Daniel Porter, 28, was being housed in the facility’s intensive management unit pending an investigation.

Porter was a medium-custody inmate who began serving a 15-month sentence Oct. 19 for first-degree burglary in Pierce County.