Santa Rita inmate death ruled ruled a suicide

A preliminary investigation indicates that a 37-year-old male inmate who died in his cell at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on Sunday afternoon died by suicide, an Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman said Monday.

At about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, deputies responded to a report of an unresponsive inmate at a one-person cell at the jail, Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

Jail medical staff, firefighters and paramedics conducted life-saving measures but the inmate was pronounced dead, according to Kelly. His name is not yet being released pending notification of his family, Kelly said.

In accordance with Alameda County’s inmate death protocol, detectives from sheriff’s Eden Township Substation in San Leandro are investigating the inmate’s death, Kelly said.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office have also been notified of the death, according to Kelly.

The county coroner’s bureau also responded to the jail and will conduct an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of the inmate’s death, Kelly said.