Update Jan. 22: The fatal fall brings to 16 the number of inmates who have died in Humboldt County’s jail since 2000, according to county sheriff’s records. Except for 2001, when four inmates died, the annual death rate has ranged from zero to two. A three-year streak of no deaths at all behind bars ended in 2012, when two inmates died of what were described at the time as natural causes.
Original post: Press release from Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On 01-17-2013, approximately 8:00 a.m. a Humboldt County Correctional Officer witnessed a 56 year old male jump from the second tier in a housing unit in the Correctional Facility. No one was around the inmate when this occurred. Jail medical was immediately notified and life saving efforts were initiated by staff. The Eureka Fire Department and City Ambulance responded and assisted in the life saving efforts. The inmate was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased by a doctor.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Detectives, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office and Humboldt County Coroner are all investigating the incident. It is unknown exactly why the inmate jumped. The inmates name is being withheld pending the notification of next of kin by the Humboldt County Coroners Office. The inmate resides in Eureka and was in custody for violation of probation.
Previously 12/12/12: Inmate Dies in Humboldt County Jail
This article appears in The Gun Issue.
“no one was around”…
What? Unless the intention of the Humboldt Sheriff’s Department (which runs the jail, great for them to investigate themselves) was to say that no one physically pushed the man, no one being around would be absolute bull shit.
What pushes people to “suicide” in jail is either a cop or correctional officer killing someone and claiming it as a suicide; pain from mental or physical illness that is ignored, perpetrated, or made worse by the jail system and/or Sheriff correctional facility staff; or anguish from a rotten system that is unfair and ruins lives.
Perhaps the poor man had simply read too many comments by Verbena.
Verbena was screaming at the guy to escape from the street below, the inmate finally cracked and jumped to his death. Verbena just shrugged and kept on walking.
how was he not supervised? The inmate at Humboldt co. jail that is.
Gee Verbena or Kim Starr or whatever your name is. How did YOU make it out of jail alive?
Suicide is the third leading cause of death of U.S. minors. A U.S. soldier in the Mid-East kills himself everyday.
Strange, in a world of plenty for the deserving…so the media keeps repeating.