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| Colorado inmate dies after reporting illness |
| By Denver Post |
| Published: 10/07/2003 |
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Another inmate at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center has died, making him the sixth death at the center this year. Earl Stanley Black complained Monday morning that he wasn't feeling well; within 30 minutes he was dead. Black's death comes less than three weeks after a 24-year-old inmate died from a cocaine overdose at the correctional facility. An autopsy is scheduled for Black today. Black had been in jail since Thursday on charges of possession of drugs and paraphernalia. After being processed, officials said, Black was taken directly to the correctional center's infirmary because of suspected alcohol withdrawal problems. Lt. Rodney Gehrett, a spokesman for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said Black had been under constant supervision in the infirmary. Experts estimate that between 90 percent and 95 percent of all inmates have drug and alcohol problems. Black was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m. after efforts to start his heart failed. Gehrett said Black complained of feeling sick after taking a shower earlier. He said inmates are given alcohol-withdrawal care that is similar to that given in specialized clinics, and treatment can include drugs in addition to fluids, nutrients and constant observation. In the most recent death before Black's, a bag containing about 14 grams of cocaine ruptured in the stomach of Gregorio Palomera on Sept. 17. Investigators do not believe Palomera obtained the drugs while in custody, but that he may have swallowed the bag as a way to either hide the cocaine or to bring it into the jail. Palomera's death has been ruled accidental, the first accidental death at an El Paso County correctional facility dating back at least 12 years, officials said. Of the four other deaths in the correctional facility this year, one was a suicide and the remaining have been ruled as natural causes. |
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