Sonoma County inmate found hanging in jail cell

Man, who has not been identified pending notification of his relatives, could not be revived Sunday morning.|
ELIZABETH M. COSIN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

An inmate at the Sonoma County Jail appears to have committed suicide, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

The man, who has not been identified pending notification of his relatives, was reportedly discovered by another inmate Sunday morning hanging in his cell, said Sheriff's Sgt. Shannon McAlvain.

Correctional deputies cut the man down but efforts by deputies and emergency responders to revive him were not successful. The inmate was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m., McAlvain said.

It was the first suicide in the Sonoma County jails since March 2013, when an inmate committed suicide by slashing his own wrists.

McAlvain said the Sheriff's Office's violent crimes unit and the District Attorney's office conducted an investigation Sunday, reaching a preliminary determination that the inmate hanged himself. However, an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death, he said.

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