A 53-year-old inmate was found dead in his cell at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield early Wednesday.

Vermont State Police say Romeo Reome III of Brattleboro had numerous health problems. On Tuesday, prison officials said, Reome was taken to Springfield Hospital “due to health complications” before being returned to his cell.

During a routine check shortly after 2:30 a.m., Reome’s cellmate alerted prison officials that the inmate was unresponsive. Prison staff provided emergency care and called first responders. Reome was pronounced dead at 3:19 a.m., police said.

Vermont State Police will perform a death investigation, and Reome’s body was transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.

Reome’s death is the second at the prison in eight days, and the tenth death in just over a year, at least two of which two of which authorities believe were suicides..

This marks the fifth inmate death this year at the Springfield prison, two of which authorities believe were suicides. Two of the inmates were in their 70s.

Prison officials have long struggled with staff shortages, and according to the Vermont Office of the Defender General, the pandemic also played a role in the increase of the deaths.

Reome was serving a sentence of 6-8 years for aggravated assault at the time of his death.