JAIL INMATE WHO HANGED HIMSELF DIES OF INJURIES

A 39-year-old Sonoma County Jail inmate died of injuries suffered when he

hanged himself with a pillowcase in his cell last week, authorities said

Tuesday.

Leobardo Medina Pacheco died Monday at Memorial Hospital, Sheriff's Lt. Rob

Giordano said.

Pacheco was serving a one-year sentence on marijuana and firearm charges.

The charges stemmed from a robbery in Pacheco's east Santa Rosa home in

November.

He had made suicidal statements and was being held in the jail's mental

health unit in a cell with a bunk bed and sheets and limited personal

property, Giordano said.

Pacheco had been checked by the mental health staff 30 minutes before he

was found hanging and by correctional deputy about eight minutes before and

given no cause for concern, Giordano said.

The preliminary findings of an autopsy conducted Tuesday indicated that he

died from a brain injury due to lack of oxygen consistent with suffocation.

During the failed robbery on Nov. 27, Pacheco exchanged gunfire with the

robbers. Pacheco was wounded. He shot and killed one of the robbers, a

20-year-old Windsor man.

Police found 300 pounds of marijuana and $26,000 in cash found at the home.

The surviving robbers initially were charged with murder as instigators of

the crime. That charge was dropped in a plea agreement with prosecutors. They

received lengthy prison sentences.

Four family members living in the home were arrested after the robbery and

charged with marijuana possession. Pacheco was arrested in December after he

was released from a hospital after treatment for his wound.

He was sentenced March 20 to a year in jail, according to court records. He

would have been released in about nine months due to time served while

awaiting trial.

Pacheco's death is under investigation by the Sheriff's Department and

District Attorney's Office.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or

randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.