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Trumbull inmate dies after being found unresponsive in cell
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Ten days after an inmate was taken unresponsive from his cell in the Trumbull County jail after a possible drug overdose, an inmate was found dead in his cell Friday.
Sheriff Paul Monroe issued a press release Friday night saying the inmate was found unresponsive in his cell at 12:01 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 12:44 p.m. at St. Joseph Warren Hospital.
The sheriff did not identify the inmate, but The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, identified him as Gregory Wright, 60, of Warren. The sheriff told WFMJ there were no signs of foul play.
When the inmate was discovered, corrections officers called for medical assistance and lifesaving efforts began. The inmate was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The Trumbull County Coroner’s Office will investigate to determine the cause of death, Monroe said.
Wright, of Sheridan Avenue Northeast, was sentenced to 18 months in prison April 28 in common pleas court after pleading guilty to cocaine possession and failure to comply with the orders of a police officer, according to court records.
He had been indicted in the county several times on drug-related charges. He was ordered to report to the jail Wednesday, which he did.
On April 25, Timothy Kirkland, 19, of Surrey Road was taken unresponsive from the jail to ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital and later transferred to the intensive-care unit at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, said Maj. Jeff Palmer of the sheriff’s office.
Maj. Dan Mason, the jail’s administrator, told WFMJ that medics administered naloxone to Kirkland. He didn’t respond to the drug-overdose antidote, but he was still alive when he was taken to the hospital.
Palmer said situations such as Kirkland’s is one reason Monroe decided soon after becoming sheriff in January to purchase a full-body scanner to better screen inmates when they enter the jail.
The devices are able to detect hidden objects inside a person’s body and should reduce the flow of drugs into the jail, Monroe said.
The county commissioners awarded a bid Wednesday to O.D. Security North American of Texas for purchase of the machine, which will be used during the jail’s intake process. Its cost is $118,750.
Kirkland is set for sentencing next month after pleading guilty in March to two counts of burglary and receiving stolen property and single counts of tampering with evidence, safecracking and carrying a concealed weapon.