3rd inmate death in 4 weeks at AA Co. Jail

Posted by Jeff Quinton on February 5, 2008

A 45-year-old Pasadena man awaiting trial on drug charges at an Anne Arundel County jail has died, the third inmate at the Annapolis facility to lose his life in four weeks.

James Leroy Downs, who entered the Jennifer Road Detention Center on Dec. 22 on marijuana-possession and related charges, died Friday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. Inmates in the 22-bed dormitory area where he was staying alerted jail authorities about noon that Downs was ill, said Robin Harting, superintendent of the county’s Department of Detention Facilities.

Paramedics arrived at 12:23 p.m. and took Downs to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Harting said.

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On Jan. 4, Monteray Arkell Hastey, 37, of Annapolis died after hanging himself in his cell. Michael G. McCormick, 49, of Odenton died Jan. 15 after collapsing in his cell. Autopsy results are pending in that case. Court records showed McCormick had been booked the day before after appearing at a court hearing with a blood-alcohol level of 0.32 percent, four times the legal limit for drunken driving.

Harting said the deaths at the jail, which houses 615 inmates, are “highly troubling” and have prompted her agency to review procedures for inmate care. But, she added, “Each of the three deaths was very distinct, under very different circumstances.”