Woman From Niagara Falls Found Dead At Erie County Holding Center

There is a question that has been floating around Western New York for many years. For many, the question has died down, but after something terrible that happened on Saturday, September 20, 2025, the question has come back up: What is happening at the Erie County Holding Center?

On Friday, September 19, 2025, a 35-year-old Niagara Falls woman was arrested on an outstanding shoplifting warrant and was booked into the Erie County Holding Center in downtown Buffalo around 10:30 in the morning. On Saturday morning, less than 24-hours later, Ms. Elizabeth Calaty was found unresponsive in her jail cell and she was later pronounced dead.

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Over the last 20 years, more than 50 people have died inside the walls of the Holding Center, and many people around Western New York are worried that this is just the continuation of a troubling trend that has been happening in Buffalo and Alden.

According to the Buffalo News, a nurse went into Calaty's cell around 8:15 in the morning on Saturday, where she was found with no pulse and was totally unresponsive. County officials completed an autopsy on Monday, September 22, 2025, and they are now waiting for the results from the autopsy and toxicology tests.

Like with other deaths that occur when people are in police custody, the New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations has opened a file to determine if any wrongdoing was done by county officials.

Initial reports from the Erie County Sheriff's Office say there were no signs of trauma on the victim's body, and there wasn't any kind of contraband found in her cell.

Details surrounding this incident are still developing and more information will be shared as it becomes available.

These 7 Prisons Are The Most Violent In New York State

New York released a report with the most recent number of violent assaults on inmates in state prisons. There were 134 inmate deaths noted in the report, although it doesn't break down the prisons where each death occurred or who caused them. Here's a look at some of the general violent incidents reported for 2020, which is the most recent data reported by the state. Compared to 10 years ago, inmate assaults have almost doubled. In 2011 there were 666 and in 2020 there were 1,205 reported. These numbers do not include inmate assaults on staff members. Overall, the number of unusual incidents includes things like assaults, deaths, accidents, sexual misconduct, and disruptive behavior. According to the state,

"The number of unusual incidents has increased 132% from 5,980 in 2011 to 13,870 in 2020. These higher incident numbers were largely due to increases in assaults on incarcerated individuals (+81%), assaults on staff (+86%), contraband (+130%), disruptive behavior (+372%), and staff use of weapons (+1,035%)."

In 2020, 1,836 weapons used to cut or stab, including ice picks, razor blades, can lids and shanks were discovered in state prisons around New York.

Gallery Credit: Yasmin Young

Source: Another Inmate Has Died At Erie County Holding Center In Buffalo