An inmate held at the Sacramento County Main Jail died early Saturday, sheriff’s officials announcedthe third reported death at the downtown facility since May.
The 29-year-old man was discovered by sheriff’s guards around 2:15 a.m. during a cell check, officials said in a statement. Officers said they found the man unconscious in his cell in the jail’s 5-East 300 pod. Emergency responders provided assistance as jail medical personnel and Sacramento Fire Department personnel were called to attempt to revive the man.
Their attempts were unsuccessful and firefighters pronounced the man dead. He had been in prison since April 20, 2022. His name and the charges he faced were not released by officers. He is expected to be identified by Sacramento County coroner’s officials pending notification of the family.
The Sheriff’s Office said it would “complete a thorough investigation into the inmate deaths in accordance with department procedures and state law,” officials said in their statement Saturday.
The inmate’s untimely death on Saturday at 5-East follows two deaths in one week at the prison in early May. On May 5, officers found a 45-year-old man unresponsive in a cell used by inmates to detox from narcotics.
A week later, on May 12, a 55-year-old man died while in custody, sheriff’s officials said. Sheriff’s officials said the man was medically cleared for jail but later became unresponsive while he was fingerprinted and, after life-saving efforts failed, he was pronounced dead.
Before Saturday’s death, 27 inmates from the main jail had been reported dead in the custody of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office since January 2021.
