Albany County man convicted of assault dies in prison

A former Albany County man convicted of assault in 2021 was found dead in a Greene County prison last week.
Zechariah Squires, 34, was pronounced dead around 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 2 at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed on Tuesday.
Squires, formerly of Coeymans, was serving a sentence of 7 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in March 2021 to second-degree strangulation and torturing or injuring animals.
Police said Squires forced a woman to take a drug and perform a sex act. He also punched her dog and twisted her cat’s neck.
Squires entered DOCCS’ custody in July 2021.
The cause of death will be determined by the Greene County Medical Examiner’s Office. DOCCS said that it is up to county coroners and medical examiners to determine if the results will be released and to whom.
If the death appears to be from other than natural causes or a known medical condition, it will be investigated by New York State Police and DOCCS’ Office of Special Investigations.
This is just the latest death in prison. Robert Brooks died at Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9. He was seen on video being punched and kicked by correction officers.
Robert Fisher, who raped and killed a 3-year-old girl in Rensselaer, died at Elmira Correctional Facility in October.
He was serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for killing Josefina Cunningham in July 2023. Prosecutors said he drugged the little girl, raped her and killed her to try to cover up what he’d done.
NewsChannel 13 has been checking on the cause of death and it is still under investigation. We have filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the information and will let you know when we hear back.