Inmate Dies in Snohomish County Jail

A 51 year-old female inmate in the Snohomish County Correctional Facility died late Friday night, according to a news release from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.  She is the eighth inmate to die in the facility since 2010, according to The Seattle Times.

The woman had been housed in the jail’s medical unit since being booked on July 24. Corrections staff were checking her status "at least every hour since the inmate had been booked," the news release said. When staff arrived at her bedside around 10:30 p.m. on July 26, they found her not breathing and unresponsive. CPR was reportedly started immediately and paramedics were called. The inmate was pronounced dead at the scene.

A death investigation is being conducted by Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office major crimes detectives, as is standard procedure.  When the criminal investigation is completed, an administrative investigation will be conducted to assess if there were any policy or procedural violations.

Identification of the inmate, as well as cause and manner of her death, will be determined and released by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.

New Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary appointed Edmonds resident Jeff Miller to serve as Corrections Bureau Chief earlier this month.  

Before this report, national corrections experts were planning to visit the jail later this year in part because of a recent series of inmate deaths, according to the Everett Herald.  

Check back for updates to this story.