An inmate held at Sacramento County Main Jail died early Saturday, Sheriff’s officials announced, the third reported death at the downtown facility since May.
The man, 29, was discovered about 2:15 a.m. by sheriff’s jailers during a cell check, officials said in a statement. Deputies said they found the man unresponsive in his cell in the jail’s 5-East 300 pod. Deputies rendered aid as jail medical staff and Sacramento Fire Department personnel were called to try to revive the man.
Their attempts were unsuccessful and firefighters pronounced the man dead. He had been held at the jail since April 20, 2022. His name and the charges he was facing were not released by deputies. He is expected to be identified by Sacramento County Coroner’s officials pending notification of family.
The Sheriff’s Office said it would “complete a thorough inmate death investigation in accordance with department procedures and state laws,” officials said in their Saturday statement.
The inmate’s early Saturday death in 5-East follows two in the space of a week at the jail in early May. On May 5, deputies found a 45-year-old man unresponsive in a cell used by inmates to detox from narcotics.
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One week later, on May 12, a man, 55, died in custody during intake, sheriff’s officials said. Sheriff’s officials said the man had been medically cleared to be jailed, but later became unresponsive while he was being fingerprinted and, after life-saving efforts failed, was pronounced dead.
Before Saturday’s death, 27 Main Jail inmates had been reported dead in Sacramento County Sheriff’s custody since January 2021.
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