Leon Sheriff's Office investigating inmate death, no foul play suspected
Christopher CannA 35-year-old inmate in the Leon County Detention Facility died in his cell Wednesday night, prompting an investigation by the Sheriff's Office.
A corrections officer found the inmate, Milton Yates, "unresponsive" before "life-saving measures were attempted," according to a summary of events. That was just after 11 p.m.
Shortly after, Yates was pronounced dead. According to the sheriff's office, no foul play is suspected. An internal investigation is underway.
Yates was arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department in mid-November on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.
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His family has been notified of his death, according to spokesperson Angela Green, who could not provide further detail on Yates' death. An autopsy is pending.
In mid-September, the sheriff's office also began an investigation after an inmate, Phyllis Brown, was found unresponsive in her cell. Her cause of death has not been released.
A month before that, Liam McCaffrey, in custody on over 15 counts of child porn charges, was taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare where he later died after a nurse found him "unresponsive," according to a field report obtained by the Democrat.
He was suffering from COVID-19, the report said. However, like Brown, his exact cause of death remains unknown.
The Democrat has requested further reports for all three inmate deaths. Also, in April, inmate Harold Gray died in jail "due to respiratory failure" caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a log of inmate deaths obtained through a public records request. He was 51.
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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