Third inmate since September dies at Snohomish County Jail

EVERETT — Another man died in the Snohomish County Jail this week, the third death behind bars in Everett two months.

Dispatch logs showed an emergency medical response at the jail around 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The man, 38, was being held for investigation of first-degree murder and four counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, as well as manufacturing and delivering narcotics, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

“The inmate was housed in a high security male housing unit due to the severity of his crimes,” sheriff’s spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe said in a press release around 4:45 p.m. Thursday. “As corrections deputies were releasing inmates for lunch, the inmate did not come out of his cell. The module deputy went to make contact with him and located the male unresponsive. Corrections staff called a medical emergency and began lifesaving measures. Two doctors and four nurses responded immediately and performed CPR for more than 30 minutes. Attempts to resuscitate the inmate were unsuccessful.”

The inmate’s identity will be confirmed by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office, as will the cause and manner of death.

“Following his death, every inmate in that housing module was strip-searched and submitted to a urinalysis,” O’Keefe wrote. “One inmate was transported to jail booking for a body scan, which showed an anomaly. Prior to being transported to the hospital for further evaluation, the inmate removed a bag of drugs from his rectum. The bag contained approximately 10 grams of presumptive fentanyl. This remains an active investigation.”

The sheriff’s office planned to conduct a “morbidity review” that is independent of the Major Crimes Unit’s death investigation. The sheriff’s office said the case would be investigated as a possible controlled substance homicide.

This was the latest in a string of incidents at the jail in the past year.

In September, two men were found unresponsive within four days of each other while in their cells.

Jonathan Reilly died Sept. 7. The cause of death was still pending investigation by the medical examiner’s office. He was 38.

Andrey Biruc died of natural causes on Sept. 11.

In July, after two inmates overdosed, authorities found fentanyl powder had been smuggled in by another inmate hiding the drug in his rectum.

In May, seven inmates were taken to the hospital after suffering non-fatal overdoses. An Arlington man was accused of smuggling the drugs in.

In December 2022, an Edmonds man died of “complications of chronic fentanyl and methamphetamine use,” according to a sheriff’s office review. The inquiry found jail officials were not at fault in his death.

In 2020, an Everett man collapsed and died in the jail while waiting to be escorted to video court.

Last month, an Everett mother filed a lawsuit against the jail after her son died of “acute heroin intoxication” while in his cell in 2020.

The latest deaths came in the weeks leading up to a highly contested election between incumbent Sheriff Adam Fortney and Bothell Deputy Police Chief Susanna Johnson. The sheriff oversees the jail in downtown Everett, in addition to patrol deputies and the county’s largest law enforcement agency.

“Those who bring drugs into our facility and distribute them to others will be held accountable for the taking of a human life,” Sheriff Adam Fortney said in the press release Thursday. “Given the escalating presence of fentanyl in our community, we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensuring a safe, secure, and humane facility, and we will take every possible measure to prevent the introduction of drugs into the jail.”

Overdoses and suicides have been a longstanding issue in the Snohomish County Jail, predating the current administration.

The county jail saw at least 12 inmate deaths between 2010 and 2014. The string of fatalities led to a series of reforms by the sheriff’s office.

“The Snohomish County Jail is currently in the process of obtaining a full-time drug detection K-9,” O’Keefe noted Thursday.

Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.