Allegheny County Jail inmate dies at local hospital

A man incarcerated at Allegheny County Jail died Wednesday morning at a local hospital, Warden Orlando Harper announced. That led one Jail Oversight Board member to demand drastic changes at the jail before more inmates die.

The 27-year-old man, who county officials did not name, was taken to the Downtown jail Saturday on a bench warrant and detainer charge from outside Allegheny County, Harper said.

The man tested positive for fentanyl, methamphetamine and amphetamines as he was being processed into the jail and was placed in detox protocols, the warden said.

Harper said a corrections officers discovered the man “in medical distress” around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The man transferred himself to a stretcher when the medical unit arrived, Harper said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:17 am.

The man is the third county jail inmate to die in custody this year, county spokesperson Amie Downs said.

A total of 16 inmates have died at the jail since 2020.

“People are dying of all ages, of all health backgrounds — people are dying on a bench warrant,” said County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, D-Brighton Heights, who serves on the Jail Oversight Board.

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The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet determined a cause or manner of death.

The matter is being turned over to Allegheny County Police for investigation, which is standard procedure for an inmate death, Downs said. Harper said the jail also will conduct a review of the incident.

Hallam said jail officials need to tackle understaffing and set up independent medical screening upon intake to really address the problem.

“We can’t keep sending people to this jail, to this black hole that is intake,” Hallam told the Tribune-Review. “These aren’t covid-19 deaths, these aren’t suicide deaths. These are preventable medical ailments these people weren’t treated for — and they died.”

Hallam also said she feels the death rate won’t improve when Harper leaves the jail’s top post Sept. 29.

Last month, county officials announced Harper’s retirement after 11 years as warden.

“It’s not safe to take people there,” she said.