Person found unresponsive in King County Jail cell later dies at hospital

A 25-year-old who was found unresponsive in a cell at the King County Jail in downtown Seattle on March 10 died five days later at Harborview Medical Center, according to the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention.

Maribel Kostelak died March 15 from asphyxia due to ligature hanging, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Kostelak’s death a suicide.

Though Kostelak was identified by jail officials as a woman, court records show Kostelak identified as a transgender man.

Kostelak was booked into jail on Feb. 3 and charged in Seattle Municipal Court with fourth-degree assault, according to a department spokesperson.

A judge ordered Kostelak’s release from custody on March 14, the day before Kostelak died, according to a news release issued Monday, which does not identify Kostelak by name. The Seattle Police Department is conducting an independent investigation into the death.

Though Kostelak wasn’t technically in custody at the time of death, Kostelak’s death is the third this year involving someone being held at the jail.

On Feb. 4, Erick Hernandez-Mendoza, 34, died from acute drug intoxication, including meth, the medical examiner reported. Earlier that day, he had been transferred from the SCORE Jail in Des Moines to the King County Jail on two felony warrants – one for possession of a stolen vehicle investigated by Renton police and the second for vehicle prowling that was investigated by Seattle police.

Keith Denegal, 47, died Feb. 20 from asphyxia due to ligature hanging and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the medical examiner.

A week earlier, on Feb. 13, Denegal was arrested by Seattle police for felony violation of a domestic-violence no contact order and unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon, accused of beating his ex-girlfriend and possessing brass knuckles, court records show. The no-contact order was issued in 2018 after Denegal pistol-whipped the same woman, and court records in that case note he was the subject of a felony warrant out of California for homicide.