Mary Duan contributed to this report.
On Friday, 10 inmates in the same pod at the Monterey County Jail were acting strangely, and showed signs they were under the influence of drugs.
On Saturday, five of those inmates were moved to a so-called safety cell where jail staff could "let them come down" while medical staff monitored the group, according to Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon.
Among those five was 36-year-old Eddie Fuentes, who'd been in jail for four months on multiple felony charges. Fuentes died suddenly Saturday night.
At 9:41pm Saturday, jail medical staff administered Narcan to Fuentes, Brannon says. Narcan is used to treat overdoses of heroin and other opioids, but while counteracting the depressive effects of heroin can cause its own side effects including dizziness, tiredness and weakness.
At 10:17pm, jail staff noted Fuentes was stable. Just eight minutes later, he was found to be non-responsive and transported to Natividad Medical Center, where he died.
"He wouldn't say anything and didn't say what he was taking," Brannon says. "He would not assist [medical staff] at all."
What is known: A search of the pod the 10 inmates shared revealed needles.
And an autopsy Monday morning revealed a plastic bag inside Fuentes' stomach. It appeared to have been tied, but it was open, Brannon says; he's not sure whether there was anything in it, and it may be weeks until toxicology reports come back, Brannon adds.
And an autopsy Monday morning revealed a plastic bag inside Fuentes' stomach. It appeared to have been tied, but it was open, Brannon says; he's not sure whether there was anything in it, and it may be weeks until toxicology reports come back, Brannon adds.
As is customary with inmate deaths, the District Attorney's Office is the lead investigative agency on Fuentes' death.
Fuentes had been previously convicted for car theft, domestic violence and transportation of cocaine.
He was in custody for about four months before he died, on felony charges including two counts of car theft, possession of methamphetamine and evading a police officer, all in Salinas.
In a separate case, he was charged with three counts of commercial burglary.
The county jail and the Sheriff's Office, which manages the jail, are facing a federal lawsuit for alleged failures to provide basic health care to inmates.
(1) comment
From the looks of it, a balloon of heroin burst in his stomach, but your headline implies the treatment was the cause of death. Nice job, Weekly. No bias here.
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