Inmate dies in Allegheny County Jail

Allegheny County Police are investigating the death of a 59-year-old inmate who died in the Allegheny County Jail on Sunday morning, Warden Orlando Harper said in a statement.

The man, whose identity was not released by jail officials, was pronounced dead by paramedics on the housing unit at about 7:20 a.m. He was found unresponsive by a jail employee at 7 a.m., and staff members attempted lifesaving measures until paramedics arrived, Harper said.

The man initially had been jailed Jan. 11 on charges of retail theft, theft, evading arrest and disorderly conduct. Harper did not identify the police department which arrested the man.

The inmate had been housed in the jail’s mental health unit after being committed by Allegheny County Court on April 28 to Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, Harper said. He was one of 31 inmates in the jail who are awaiting transfer to Torrance, according to the statement.

“We have a number of individuals with acute mental health needs at the facility who have been committed to Torrance. Until a bed opens, they must remain at the jail per the courts,” Harper said.

The most recent tranfer of a county jail inmate to Torrance happened July 5. Another inmate has been waiting for transfer since March, Harper said.

Harper said it was the first death of an inmate at the jail along Second Street since September 2022.

A person in the intake section of the jail died in May. Drug tests indicated the presence of opiates including fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs in that person’s body.

Jail administrators will conduct a review of the circumstances of the inmate’s death and the county medical examiner will identify the man and issue a cause and manner of death, Harper said.

Because the inmate did not provide emergency contact information, the jail is working to identify the appropriate person for that notification.