Another Oklahoma County jail inmate dies after testing positive for COVID-19
Nolan Clay
Oklahoma County jail inmate Leo Alexander Destea died at a hospital Tuesday night.
Destea tested postive for COVID-19 on Aug. 10 and was quarantined at the jail. He was hospitalized Aug. 30 after developing trouble breathing.
The jail announced the death Wednesday morning in a news release. The state medical examiner’s office will make a final determination as to the cause of death, the jail's communications director said.
Destea was 61 and lived in Oklahoma City.
It is the second time in less than a month that a hospitalized inmate has died after a positive test. Paul Wayne Sanders Jr. tested positive Aug. 12 and was hospitalized four days later.
Sanders died Aug. 27 on his birthday. He was 62.
Destea was put on probation in 2019 after pleading guilty to domestic abuse.
He was arrested July 27 after being accused of probation violations in the abuse case, court records show.