Man dies at Cook County Jail
A Cook County Jail detainee died Friday morning.
Santiago Covarrubias/Sun-Times file
A man detained at Cook County Jail died after he was found unresponsive in his bed Friday morning.
Jail workers found Melvin Turner, 35, in his bed just before 9 a.m., and health care staffers began life-saving measures until paramedics arrived, authorities said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after, according to the Cook County sheriff’s and medical examiner’s offices.
A cause and manner of death has not been determined. Foul play was not suspected, according to the sheriff’s office.
Turner, of Carol Stream, was evaluated by jail medical staff upon his booking into the jail’s Residential Treatment Unit late Thursday night, authorities said.
He had been charged with retail theft and ordered onto electronic monitoring in February. An addiction treatment center where he had been staying had removed him after he was hospitalized for suspected substance abuse, and he was then taken to the jail, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office and the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force are investigating.
It was the second death in as many days at Cook County Jail.
A man detained there was beaten to death Thursday in the maximum security wing of the jail, officials said.