BAKERSFIELD (AP) — Kern County Sheriff’s officials say an inmate who died after being found unresponsive in her jail cell hanged herself.
The sheriff’s office released the results on Tuesday of an autopsy on 28-year-old Lorena Diaz of Bakersfield. Diaz was found unresponsive on Saturday night in her cell at the Kern County Sheriff’s Office’s Central Receiving Facility in Bakersfield.
She was taken to Mercy Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Diaz’s family tells KGET-TV she had a history of mental health problems and had been in and out of jail. They questioned why she was not on a suicide watch.
But Sheriff’s Lt. Tyson Davis says mental health professionals who evaluated Diaz said she was not a danger to herself.
(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
