Inmate’s death is fourth in 10 weeks

For the fourth time in 10 weeks, an inmate has died in Spokane County Jail. Around 4:30 p.m. Monday, a corrections officer discovered a female inmate unresponsive and alone in her cell, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The officer “immediately called for medical assistance and began life-saving efforts” and paramedics who arrived within minutes could not revive the inmate, the release said. The woman, whose name has not been released, was the fourth inmate to die in the jail since May 4, when John Everitt, 46, was found dead in his cell of an apparent suicide after an arrest on a two-year-old theft warrant. On May 13, Lorenzo Hayes, 37, died of an apparent cardiac arrest while wrestling with Spokane police officers in the jail’s booking area, according to authorities. And on June 12, Scott M. Stevens, 53, was found unresponsive and alone by a corrections officer conducting a routine cell check. Spokane County Jail Director John McGrath has said only one inmate died in the jail in 2014. Another died in January of this year. The news release said the woman’s name will not be released until the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined the cause of her death. Detectives are investigating.