close
close

Deaths in custody at Santa Rita and West County jails

EXCLUSIVE: An Oakland man's final days in Santa Rita Prison

KTVU obtained bodycam video showing the final days of Maurice Monk's life in the Santa Rita Jail. The medical examiner said he died on November 15, 2021. This video shows he was on death row for several days prior to that. Note that some of these videos do not have the correct time stamp. It was made public through a federal lawsuit. Attorneys Adante Pointer, Patrick Buelna and Ty Clark tried to make it public.

DUBLIN, California. – Authorities said two men died in custody at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County and the West County Detention Facility in Richmond.

On Monday, the Alameda County Sheriff reported the death of 30-year-old Abrion William McElmore on August 24. He was homeless and lived in San Lorenzo, Hayward and Castro Valley.

The sheriff's press release did not specify how McElmore died, only that he was found “unresponsive” in his cell and never regained consciousness.

McElmore has been in Santa Rita Prison since September 2022 for several crimes, including rape, assault, burglary, trespassing and drug offenses, the sheriff said.

He is the second person to die at Santa Rita Prison in 2024 and the 70th since 2014, according to a KTVU analysis of in-custody deaths.

Meanwhile, the East Bay Times reported that an incarcerated man died at the West County Detention Facility on Monday afternoon.

According to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, officers found the man unconscious shortly before 2 p.m. He was placed in a home alone.

The investigation is ongoing, but the sheriff's office said the death does not appear suspicious.

On August 22, San Ramon police booked the man into the Martinez Detention Center on multiple counts of theft, according to the sheriff's office.

You may also like...