An inmate at a northern Minnesota jail died days after being found unresponsive in his cell, officials said.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said 35-year-old Darrin Tiessen was booked into the St. Louis County Jail on Jan. 25 after failing to appear at a court hearing.
Just after 1 a.m. on Jan. 27, a correctional officer found Tiessen unresponsive in his cell. Staff resuscitated him and he was taken to a nearby hospital for “advanced medical care,” the sheriff’s office said.
Tiessen “did not regain consciousness” and died on Friday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Tiessen’s death.
Illinois inmate shot and killed at federal prison in Sumter County
WESH TWO NEWS. ALL RIGHT, HALEY, THANK YOU. MEANTIME, A FAMILY SAYS THEY HAVE QUESTIONS AFTER THEY SAY ONE OF THEIR OWN WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN PRISON. THIS MAN, 33 YEAR OLD DWAYNE TOTTLEBEN, DIED ON OCTOBER 10TH. WESH TWO. TONI ATKINS IS LIVE AT FCC COLEMAN IN SUMTER COUNTY, WHERE TOTTLEBEN WAS SERVING TIME AND TONY. HIS FAMILY JUST WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. WELL, IT’S BEEN 12 DAYS SINCE THE INCIDENT HERE AT THE PRISON RIGHT BEHIND ME. THIS FAMILY, HOPING TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING SOON. 33 YEAR OLD DWAYNE TOTTLEBEN OF ILLINOIS WAS SHOT AND KILLED WHILE INSIDE U.S. PENITENTIARY COLEMAN IN SUMTER COUNTY. LOVED ONES POSTING ON GOFUNDME SAYING THEY’RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION. NBC NEWS REPORTS. TOTTLEBEN WAS SERVING 15 YEARS AT THE FEDERAL PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE. THE CHARGES, RELATED TO A 2020 TRAFFIC STOP IN SAINT LOUIS. THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, WHICH ALSO SHARES INFORMATION ON INMATES DEATHS, HAS NOT RELEASED INFORMATION ABOUT TOTTLEBEN. IN THE MEANTIME, LOVED ONES SPOKE WITH NBC NEWS DWAYNE TOTTLEBEN SENIOR SAYS OFFICIALS INFORMED HIM HIS SON WAS SHOT. HE SAID, QUOTE, I WAS DISTRAUGHT. I DIDN’T KNOW IF SOMEONE STABBED HIM. I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING. THE PRISON SENT THIS STATEMENT TO NBC NEWS SAYING THE FACILITY WAS PLACED ON ENHANCED MODIFIED OPERATIONS ON OCTOBER 10TH, AND THAT WARDENS MAY ESTABLISH CONTROLS OR IMPLEMENT TEMPORARY SECURITY MEASURES TO ENSURE THE GOOD ORDER AND SAFETY OF THE EMPLOYEES AND THE INDIVIDUALS IN OUR CUSTODY. END QUOTE. TOTTLEBEN SENIOR TOLD NBC NEWS, QUOTE, WHEN PEOPLE GET INTO FIGHTS IN PRISON, THEY LOSE TIME, CREDIT. THEY DON’T LOSE THEIR LIVES. AND I ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS TO SEE IF THEY HAD A STATEMENT ABOUT HIS DEATH. THEY I DID RECEIVE AN AUTO REPLY, AND IT SAID THAT THEY WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO RESPOND DUE TO A LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS, WHICH IS RELATED TO THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. FOR NOW, I’
Illinois inmate shot and killed at federal prison in Sumter County
Dwayne Tottleben, a 33-year-old inmate from Illinois, was shot and killed while inside U.S. Penitentiary Coleman in Sumter County, according to loved ones who are trying to understand the situation.Tottleben was serving a 15-year sentence at the federal prison for possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute, stemming from a 2020 traffic stop in St. Louis.The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which often shares information about inmate deaths, has not released details about Tottleben’s death.Meanwhile, loved ones spoke with NBC News, with Dwayne Tottleben Sr. saying officials informed him his son was shot.”I was distraught. I didn’t know if somebody stabbed him. I didn’t know anything,” Tottleben Sr. said.The prison sent a statement to NBC News, indicating that the facility was placed on enhanced modified operations on Oct. 10.It stated that wardens may establish controls or implement temporary security measures to ensure the good order and safety of employees and individuals in custody.”When people get into fight in prison, they lose good time credit… they don’t lose their life,” Tottleben Sr. said.
Tottleben was serving a 15-year sentence at the federal prison for possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute, stemming from a 2020 traffic stop in St. Louis.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which often shares information about inmate deaths, has not released details about Tottleben’s death.
Meanwhile, loved ones spoke with NBC News, with Dwayne Tottleben Sr. saying officials informed him his son was shot.
“I was distraught. I didn’t know if somebody stabbed him. I didn’t know anything,” Tottleben Sr. said.
The prison sent a statement to NBC News, indicating that the facility was placed on enhanced modified operations on Oct. 10.
It stated that wardens may establish controls or implement temporary security measures to ensure the good order and safety of employees and individuals in custody.
“When people get into fight in prison, they lose good time credit… they don’t lose their life,” Tottleben Sr. said.
Three Alameda County sheriff’s deputies will face criminal charges in the 2021 in-custody death of Maurice Monk at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, while charges were dismissed against six other deputies and two civilian employees, prosecutors said Thursday.
District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson announced Thursday that the decision follows an evaluation of the case after being appointed to the office earlier this year to succeed Pamela Price, who was recalled by voters.
“This review included witness statements, body-worn cameras of the deputies involved, medical records, the reports of the pathologists on the time and cause of death, as well as the policies and procedures that control the Santa Rita Jail. What we found was very disturbing,” Dickson said in a statement.
Following the review, charges were dismissed against deputies Troy Hershel White, Syear Osmani, Ross Burruel, Andre Gaston, Mateusz Laszuk and Christopher Haendel. Charges are also being dropped against Dr. Neal Edwards of Alameda County Behavioral Services and David Everett Donoho, who worked for Wellpoint, the jail’s medical provider.
Three deputies, Donall Rowe, Thomas Mowrer, and Robin Hayer, continue to face charges.
“The DA’s office will vigorously pursue justice on behalf of Mr. Monk and his family as we prosecute this case,” Dickson added.
According to authorities, Monk was found dead in his cell on Nov. 5, 2021 after being dead for at least 72 hours. Monk was arrested a month earlier on suspicion of disorderly conduct for allegedly refusing to get off an AC Transit bus and failing to appear on a misdemeanor warrant for another alleged altercation on a bus.
Former District Attorney Pamela Price charged the 11 employees following last November’s recall election.
Monk’s family expressed disappointment in dropping charges against the eight employees.
“It has been nearly four years since Mr. Monk’s deteriorating medical condition was ignored, causing his death, when all that the guards and the jail’s medical contractors needed to do was their jobs, and to consider Mr. Monk as someone whose life was valuable,” attorneys representing the family said in a statement. “The family looks forward to obtaining justice against the three remaining guards who still face criminal trials for their roles in Mr. Monk’s untimely death.”
A wrongful death lawsuit the family brought against Alameda County was settled for $7 million.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a press statement Thursday that it has made significant changes at the Santa Rita Jail, reaching substantial compliance with a federally mandated consent decree in place at the jail to ensure improved outcomes for all inmates.
Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.
The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office determined that an inmate who passed away at Maguire Correctional Facility in March died by suicide.
Findings by the Coroner’s Office and county’s District Attorney’s Office confirmed the manner of death of 46-year-old inmate Hunter Bergner.
The Sheriff’s Office said that on March 15, around 3:15 p.m., correctional officers found Bergner unresponsive in his cell following a routine check conducted at the General Population pod where he was housed.
“Correctional Officers immediately began administering CPR and lifesaving measures until paramedics arrived a short time later. Despite their efforts, Bergner died at the facility,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Maguire Correctional Facility is in Redwood City.
“Suicide has a profound impact on us all and we extend our deepest sympathies to Mr. Bergner’s loved ones during this time,” Sheriff Christina Corpus said in a statement Monday. “While it is difficult for us to share these deeply personal findings, it is because of our commitment to transparency that we share them with the community. Our commitment to the well-being and safety of those in our custody continues to be one of our highest priorities.”
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Dial 988 The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a trained listener, call 988. Visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or for more information.
The Veterans Crisis Line Dial 988, Press 1 The Veterans Crisis Line connects veterans and service members in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential hotline, online chat, or text. Dial 988 and Press 1 or visit veterancrisisline.net for crisis chat services and more information.
Crisis Text Line Text SAVE to 741741 The Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To text with a trained helper, text SAVE to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.
An inmate at the Sacramento County main jail has died after he and his cellmate were found unresponsive in their cell on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.Deputies responded to the cell around 11:15 a.m. regarding two unresponsive male inmates. The sheriff’s office said deputies removed both inmates from the cell and gave them first aid.Narcan was administered to both inmates multiple times, officials said. One of the inmates, a 40-year-old man, died at the jail. The sheriff’s office has not identified him, but said he had been in custody since June 22.The other inmate was revived and began to breathe on his own, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to an area hospital where he was treated and cleared to return to the jail.The sheriff’s office said it will complete a thorough investigation into the inmate’s death.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
An inmate at the Sacramento County main jail has died after he and his cellmate were found unresponsive in their cell on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded to the cell around 11:15 a.m. regarding two unresponsive male inmates.
The sheriff’s office said deputies removed both inmates from the cell and gave them first aid.
Narcan was administered to both inmates multiple times, officials said.
One of the inmates, a 40-year-old man, died at the jail. The sheriff’s office has not identified him, but said he had been in custody since June 22.
The other inmate was revived and began to breathe on his own, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to an area hospital where he was treated and cleared to return to the jail.
The sheriff’s office said it will complete a thorough investigation into the inmate’s death.
(FOX40.COM) — A man who was arrested and in the process of being fingerprinted died at the Sacramento County Jail on Sunday morning, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
At around 4:20 a.m., SCSO said a 55-year-old man was brought into custody by another agency, the Sacramento Police Department, for two misdemeanor warrants. Deputies said the man was “medically cleared for incarceration,” but did not specify what he was examined for.
About one hour after the medical examination, deputies said they attempted to fingerprint the man as part of the intake process. While being fingerprinted, the man became unresponsive, according to SCSO.
Deputies said medical staff and first responders attempted first-aid, CPR, and administering Narcan to the man. Despite those efforts, he was pronounced dead at the jail.
The sheriff’s office said the incident is under internal investigation. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death and release the name of the deceased after notification has been made to his next of kin.
Melvin Turner, a death row inmate at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, died over the weekend, prison officials said Wednesday.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said Turner was pronounced dead at 6:04 p.m. Saturday. He was 67. There were no further details on the cause of his death.
Turner was convicted of the 1979 execution-style slayings of 35-year-old Dr. Joseph Hill and 44-year-old teacher Joella Champion in an airport hangar in Torrance, Los Angeles County. Prosecutors said Turner and an accomplice were at the airport to steal Hill’s sports car, and Turner shot both victims in the head as they were bound and gagged on the floor.
The co-defendant, Teague Hampton Scott, of Inglewood is serving a 52 years to life sentence for the killings.
Melvin Turner in 1980 and 2007
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Turner was a parolee who was working at the airport when Hill and Champion arrived at the hangar where Champion kept her single-engine plane. Turner and Scott robbed them at gunpoint before tying them up in the hangar where Turner shot them.
Turner was sentenced to death in 1980, but the state Supreme Court overturned his death sentence in 1986, ruling that prosecutors failed to justify removing minorities from the jury.
Turner was retried and again was sentenced to death in 1988.
As of January 2024, there were 650 inmates on death row at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, formerly known as San Quentin State Prison.
The state of Alabama was criticized by several groups, including the United Nations and the European Union, after it executed a death row inmate Thursday night using the controversial method of nitrogen hypoxia. Kenneth Smith’s spiritual adviser said the nitrogen method amounted to torture, but Alabama officials disagree. Manuel Bojorquez has more.
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Nine Memphis jail deputies have been indicted in the death of a Black man who was having a psychotic episode and died in custody last fall after jailers punched, kicked and kneeled on his back during a confrontation, a sheriff said Wednesday.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who oversees the jail where 33-year-old Gershun Freeman was beaten, disclosed the existence of the indictments during a news conference Wednesday but declined to offer more details, including the names of the county jail deputies and the charges they face.
Lawyers for Freeman’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit against Bonner said the indictments were sealed. They declined to name the jailers and the charges, only saying that they are serious.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner walks away after a news conference about the indictments of nine jail deputies in connection with the death of inmate Gershun Freeman in Memphis, Tennessee. Sept. 20, 2023.
Adrian Sainz / AP
Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk released video in March of Freeman at the Shelby County Jail.
The video shows Freeman was beaten by at least 10 corrections officers Oct. 5 after he ran naked from his cell. His attorneys say he was also struck with handcuffs, rings of jail keys and pepper spray cannisters.
Freeman had “psychosis and cardiovascular disease and died of a heart attack while being restrained,” Bonner said in a March statement, citing a medical examiner’s report.
Freeman’s manner of death is listed as a homicide in the autopsy report from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, although the report says that this “is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent.”
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into the death. Funk is acting as an independent prosecutor in the case out of Nashville.
Memphis has been roiled by Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating by Memphis police in January. The Black motorist was punched, hit with a baton, kicked and pepper sprayed during an arrest that was recorded on video.
His death led to seven police firings, including of the five officers who have since been charged with second-degree murder in state court and federal civil rights violations. They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Nichols’ family members were present at a March news conference during which Gershun Freeman’s family called for the corrections deputies involved in the confrontation with Freeman to be punished.
Freeman had been booked in jail Oct. 1 on charges of attacking and kidnapping his girlfriend, according to court records.
The video begins with two corrections officers serving meals to inmates in a narrow hallway. When Freeman’s cell opens, he runs out unclothed and appears to charge at the officers.
The officers wrestle him to the ground and begin to punch, kick and pepper-spray him. They are
joined by additional officers. The deputies move with Freeman out of the hallway. From another camera’s view, Freeman is seen wrapping himself around an officer’s legs in a different hallway.
The video shifts to a bank of escalators and Freeman, still naked, runs up one of them. In another hallway, a struggle continues with officers attempting to restrain him before getting him face-down on the ground. They can be seen stepping and kneeling on his back before he becomes still. One officer remained on Freeman’s back for several minutes before he was lifted.
He appears limp when officers do lift him up, with his head falling forward between his knees and his hands cuffed behind his back. He remains in that position until medical employees arrive, and the video ends.
Bonner, who is running for mayor of Memphis, said the deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave. Bonner said he supports them and claims the release of the video and the indictments are politically motivated because Mulroy, the Shelby County district attorney, supports a different mayoral candidate.
“Let me be clear. No action — no action — by any Shelby County Sheriff’s Office employee caused Mr. Freeman’s death,” Bonner said, adding later that he would be “the first one to donate” to any fundraiser to help with his deputies’ legal fees.
In a statement, Mulroy said he had endorsed candidate Van Turner for mayor before Freeman’s death. Mulroy also said he recused himself from the investigation “to keep politics out of the case.”
“I’ve had no involvement at all in the case since last year, and played no role in the decision to indict,” Mulroy said, adding that he supported the video release “in the name of transparency.”
Brice Timmons, a lawyer for Freeman’s family, said Bonner is to blame for Freeman’s death.
“He supports his officers. He creates these policies,” Timmons said in a news conference just outside the sheriff’s office.
Prosecutors charged two Milwaukee police officers Friday in connection with a prisoner’s overdose death.
Officers Donald Krueger and Marco Lopez were charged separately with felony abuse of person in custody and misdemeanor misconduct in office, respectively, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
According to the criminal complaint, officers arrested a 21-year-old man early in the morning of Feb. 23, 2022, on a warrant and took him to the Milwaukee Police Department’s District 5. The department identified the man in a statement as Keishon Thomas.
Thomas told Krueger during booking said that he had ingested cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy and began to dry heave and sweat, according to the complaint. Krueger said he’d call an ambulance but never did, instead placing him in a cell, according to the complaint.
Lopez took over booking duties for the day shift, relieving Krueger, according to the complaint. Detectives discovered that jail video shows he didn’t conduct 10 cell checks that his logs said he performed.
No one apparently realized Thomas was in distress until an officer checked on him just before 6 p.m. that evening. He was pronounced dead in his cell about 20 minutes later, according to the complaint.
The Milwaukee Police Department said in its statement that Krueger was suspended after the incident and ultimately retired in November after 25 years of service. Lopez has more than 12 years of experience with the agency and is currently suspended.
“The Milwaukee Police Department holds all members to the highest degree of integrity and if any member violates the code of conduct they will be held accountable,” the statement said. “Our members must not discredit what this department stands for, particularly when taking an oath to preserve and protect life. The Milwaukee Police Department extends its deepest sympathies to the Thomas family on the loss of their loved one.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Thomas family, said in a statement to CBS News Friday following the arrests that “Keishon’s death could have been prevented if the officers who were responsible for him at the time of his arrest followed the protocol.”
“Officer Lopez lied about following protocol and checking on the inmate he was responsible for, and Krueger didn’t give Keishon the medical attention he obviously needed when he saw him dry heave,” Crump’s statement read.
Online court records didn’t list attorneys for Krueger or Lopez. An email message The Associated Press left in a general inbox for the Milwaukee Police Association, the union that represents Milwaukee officers, wasn’t returned.
