These are the six Sacramento homeless people who died in government-run shelters
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sacramento Bee records show six shelter deaths from overdoses since Jan. 1, 2024.
- Most deaths occurred inside Florin Road and Stockton Boulevard government shelters.
- City and county failed to notify officials; staff report no planned policy changes.
Their deaths are a small subset of the at least 330 homeless people who have died in Sacramento since Jan. 1, 2024. But these people died of overdoses or apparent overdoses at Sacramento-area shelters overseen by the government.
Through a Public Records Act request, The Sacramento Bee found at least six people died at city and county Sacramento shelters since Jan. 1, 2024. (One died “just outside” a sleeping cabin at a shelter.) Unlike most deaths that take place at the Sacramento County Main Jail, another government facility, the city and county have not publicly announced any of the five shelter deaths.
A Sacramento Bee story revealed their identities and examined the issue of drug use among the unhoused.
The names
Elaine Michelle Cain (Casmer), 55: Died from meth intoxication in her vehicle in the parking lot of the Florin Road Safe Stay Shelter on Jan. 5, 2024, according to coroner records. Just before, according to the incident report, shelter staff reported hearing “screaming and panic.”
Dawn Michelle Tuttle, 48: Died from meth intoxication after staff found her unresponsive on the floor of her sleeping cabin at the Florin Road Safe Stay Shelter on April 1, 2024, according to coroner records.
Candyce Dysinger, 51: Died from meth intoxication after staff found her unresponsive on Dec. 26, 2024, in her sleeping cabin at the county’s Florin Road Safe Stay Shelter, according to coroner records.
Richard Andrew Zavala, 55: Died from meth intoxication after staff found him unresponsive in his sleeping cabin at the county’s Stockton Boulevard shelter on July 5, 2025, according to coroner records.
Terrance Fowlkes, 48: Died after staff found him unresponsive in his sleeping cabin with drug paraphernalia around him in the Florin Road Safe Stay Shelter on Aug. 12, 2025, according to the shelter incident report.
Jaiden Misciagna, 23: Died after staff found him unresponsive “just outside” his sleeping cabin at the city’s Roseville Road shelter on Sept. 6, 2025. Staff administered naloxone, and when paramedics arrived, “they examined the body and informed staff that he had been deceased for a few hours,” the shelter incident report said.
The policy
Official notification: The county and city, according to their spokespeople, do not privately inform the elected Board of Supervisors and the City Council about all shelter deaths.
No changes planned: Without knowing about the deaths, the supervisors and the council members unlikely will propose changes to any shelter policies to prevent more deaths. County staff are also not planning changes due to the deaths.
Drug use
Expert’s voice: “Using (by yourself) increases risk of death” said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and a UCSF professor of medicine. “If people are using in a place they have to hide their use, they’re much less likely to be rescued from Narcan and much less likely to get involved in treatment. Shelters across the country have spaces where, if they need to use, they’re not using alone.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM.
