Santa Barbara County detectives are investigating after an inmate died while in custody at Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria on Monday.
Around 2:19 p.m. while conducting routine health checks, the medical staff found a male inmate, in B-Unit of the jail, who wasn’t breathing and was unresponsive, according to a news release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Medical personnel performed CPR and other life-saving measures to the inmate, but he did not recover and was pronounced dead at 2:46 p.m.
The inmate’s identity will not be released until his family is notified.
The cause of death is unknown and the investigation is ongoing.
