San Jose

Inmate Dies at Santa Clara County Jail: Sheriff's Office

An inmate at the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose died in custody Monday morning, about a month after three guards were charged with murder after another inmate was found beaten to death in his cell.

Because of that high-profile death, it is the fist time the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department has issued a news released on an imate death.

The man, described by Sheriff's Sgt. James Jensen as a 33-year-old Latino man, was found unresponsive in his cell around 10:30 a.m.

Corrections staff administered CPR while the San Jose Fire Department was called to the scene, Jensen said. "They immediately rendered First Aid," he said.

The inmate could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at 11:04 a.m., Jensen said. On Tuesday, Jensen said the man had last been in custody for the last eight days stemming from some sort of battery and probation holds out of Milpitas. He was housed in an area with a 24-hour nursing staff, and several defense attorneys were nearby when he ws found dead.

He had also been arrested on Sept. 6 for assault and battery, and then rearrested Sept.20, one day after being released on the first arrest, Jensen said.

Sheriff's deputies found the man, not breathing, while they were doing a routine welfare check. There are no cameras in that cell block.

Jensen said that jail officials have invited the District Attorney and Internal Affairs to come investigate.

The incident comes roughly a month after inmate Michael Tyree was allegedly beaten to death by three deputies in the same jail.

Tyree was found dead in his cell on Aug. 27.

The three correctional officers have been arrested and charged with murder.

The inmate found Monday was not housed on the same floor as Tyree, but was on a floor where there was round-the-clock nursing care, which means he was either on a medical or psychiatric floor.

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