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Grand Rapids jail inmate dies from asphyxiation

Posted at 1:46 PM, Jun 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-11 14:01:23-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — An inmate has died after asphyxiating himself inside a Kent County jail cell earlier this month.

Kent County Undersheriff Michelle Young told FOX 17 News on Saturday that the Grand Rapids man, whose identity is not being released, asphyxiated himself inside a cell at the jail, where he was found at 3:05 a.m. June 1 and transported to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in downtown Grand Rapids in critical condition.

She said jail officers saw the man, who appeared fine, during a regular check on June 1 and then found him in distress while conducting their regular rounds about 30 minutes later, performed CPR on him and that he had a pulse and was breathing when he was transported to Butterworth.

Young said the inmate died at the hospital three days later.

The man was booked into the jail on May 24 on charges of manufacturing or delivering methamphetamine. He was being held on $100,000 bond.

Young told FOX 17 that the man was screened for suicidal tendencies when he first was booked into jail and was determined not to be a risk to himself either then or during a second interview.