EVERETT — An inmate at the Snohomish County Jail died in his cell Thursday morning, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Just before 8 a.m., jail staff were conducting routine vital checks with inmates on a medical detox watch, according to the sheriff’s office. The man, who was sharing a cell with two other inmates, reportedly refused the check.
Medical staff continued on with their checks and returned to the man’s cell roughly 22 minutes later, only to find him “unresponsive,” the sheriff’s office reported. Staff began CPR, but it wasn’t successful.
The man, 38, was pronounced dead.
His cause of death had not been determined Thursday. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the deceased, as well as determine cause and manner of death.
Mukilteo police booked the man into the county jail Wednesday on two warrants. It was unclear what the warrants were for.
The sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit was investigating the death. Authorities will also conduct a separate clinical “morbidity review,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The man is the second to die in the jail in the past year.
In December, Sean Hanchett, of Edmonds, died of “complications of chronic fentanyl and methamphetamine use,” according to the sheriff’s office review. The inquiry found jail officials were not at fault in Hanchett’s death.
In May, an Arlington man was accused of smuggling fentanyl into the jail, leading to the non-fatal overdoses of seven other inmates.
And in July, authorities found fentanyl powder in an inmate’s rectum after two fellow inmates overdosed.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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