Jail inmate found dead in cell was 26-year-old Spokane woman

The medical examiner’s office on Wednesday identified a woman who died in the Spokane County Jail this month as Cambrea M. Bishop, 26, of Spokane.

Bishop was found dead in a cell on the afternoon of July 17 while inmates were being released from their cells for recreational time, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. She was the sixth inmate to die at the downtown detention facility in about 13 months.

The sheriff’s office is investigating the circumstances of Bishop’s death, and the medical examiner’s office is awaiting toxicology results.

Deputy Mark Gregory, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, has previously said there was “no obvious sign” of how Bishop died.

“Cambrea’s death has shocked everyone that knew her,” Jeffry Finer, an attorney for Bishop’s family, said in a text message. “She was strong, funny and working to become the mother, daughter, sister, friend and coworker we knew she could be.”

Bishop had struggled with substance abuse, and Finer said that “losing her in midrecovery is a bitter blow.”

Records show Bishop was booked into jail around 2 a.m. on July 14. Finer said she apparently had been arrested for an alleged parole violation.

According to her obituary, Bishop is survived by her young son, Kade Bishop, as well as many siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. A memorial ceremony is planned for Saturday afternoon.

Three of the previous inmate deaths were suicides. In response to those incidents, the jail is preparing to stop issuing bedsheets, which the three inmates used to hang themselves.