COXSACKIE, N.Y. – A 61-year-old inmate died over the weekend at one of the New York prisons where National Guard troops were deployed to replace corrections officers who walked off the job in an illegal strike.

Jonathon Grant, who was serving a 34-to-40-year sentence for rape and burglary, was pronounced dead Saturday morning after being found unresponsive in his cell at the Auburn Correctional Facility, state officials said.

“Facility security and medical staff, along with a National Guard member began life saving measures including CPR and Narcan was administered,” Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesperson Thomas Mailey said in an email. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death, he said. Information on Grant’s health wasn’t immediately released. It wasn’t clear if the prison’s staffing situation was a factor in his death, but the public defender’s office that provided legal counsel to Grant expressed concern.

Guards at dozens of state prisons began skipping shifts and picketing a week ago in a wildcat strike that was not approved by union officials, who acknowledge that it violates bargaining rules for state employees and could lead to fines and other punishments. The strikes prompted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, to deploy National Guard troops to prisons last week and promise legal action against striking officers.

The staffing shortages have led to lockdowns affecting everything from prisoners’ medical treatment to lawyers’ visits to parole board hearings.