Santa Rosa man dies in jail before murder trial

(KRON) — A Santa Rosa man died alone inside a Sonoma County jail cell ahead of his upcoming murder trial.

Skyler Rasmussen, 28, was the only inmate in the cell when deputies found him unresponsive on Wednesday, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies performed CPR and utilized Narcan, an opioid-reversing drug treatment, before Rasmussen was officially pronounced dead by emergency medical personnel.

Rasmussen had been behind bars since late 2022 and he was charged with murdering William Woodard, the Press Democrat reported . The deadly stabbing happened on Dec. 13, 2022 at The Palms Inn in Santa Rosa. Rasmussen had left a court-mandated drug rehab treatment program in San Francisco just days before the killing, according to the Press Democrat.

His murder trial was initially scheduled to begin on April 12, 2024, however, the trial’s date was pushed back to January 2025, court records show.

Officials did not release Rasmussen’s suspected cause of death on Thursday.

Rob Dillion, a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, wrote, “Sheriff's Office Violent Crime detectives and Crime Scene Investigation detectives were called to investigate further. Pursuant to the … in-custody death protocol, the Marin County Coroner's Office is conducting an independent death investigation.”

The spokesperson added, “During this challenging time, the Sheriff's Office would like to send our deepest condolences to Rasmussen's family and friends.”

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