Jail Inmate Dies After Hanging Self, Official Says

An Orange County jail inmate died Saturday--the 10th to die in county custody in less than two years--after hanging himself with a bed sheet in a toilet area of the facility, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The victim, whose identity was being withheld late Saturday until relatives were notified, was discovered just before 5 p.m. by another inmate, who called for assistance from deputies, according to Lt. Randy Blair, patrol watch commander.

After the man was cut down, deputies and jail medical staff attempted to revive him. Later, paramedics continued efforts while transporting him to a hospital. The man was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m., Blair said.

An autopsy has been scheduled for today, according to the coroner’s office, and an investigation into the death is being conducted by Harry Graves, a senior district attorney’s office investigator.

In March of this year, Juan Ceja, another inmate, died after hanging himself with a bed sheet in his cell.

The Jan. 17 death of John Franklin Wilcox and the Jan. 31 death of Arthur Oviedo, both of whom were in the jail’s medical facility, led to the arrest of another inmate, Jerry Thomas Pick, on charges of murder. Pick shared cells with both men.

In May, a federal judge ordered Orange County officials to release all medical records and coroner’s reports of Wilcox, Oviedo, Ceja and six other male inmates who had died in custody since January of 1985. The documents are part of a civil action brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against the county, charging overcrowding and other allegedly unconstitutional conditions at the jail.