Johnston County jail detainee died ‘natural death’ day he was taken off suicide watch
A 23-year-old man found unresponsive in a Johnston County jail cell last year died of natural causes, according to a report by the county’s district attorney.
The report, released Friday morning, said Eric Cruz died from hyper-intensive cardiovascular disease.
Cruz was found around 9:47 p.m. Jan. 19, 2021 by jail staff members who initially performed CPR. Emergency Medical Services personnel responded but could not revive him. He was pronounced dead by 10:30 p.m, according to the report.
The report rules out any criminal negligence by Johnston County jail officers and no charges will be filed against any jail staff involved in the incident, according to District Attorney Susan Doyle.
Cruz’s death led to a criminal investigation request by the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office to the State Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the investigation.
Family members and a fellow detainee raised concerns about Cruz’s death, as previously reported by WRAL and INDY Week.
He was in custody after being arrested six days earlier on burglary charges. During the booking process, Cruz told officers he had kidney disease and took medicine for high blood pressure. He required dialysis for the disease, and family members allege he did not get the treatment while in jail.
Cruz also told officers he had been hospitalized a month earlier for a drug overdose and as a result, he was placed on suicide watch requiring staff to check on him every 15 minutes. According to the report, Cruz was taken off suicide watch on the day he died.
Read more: “Durham jail detainee who died in hospital had attempted suicide, Sheriff’s Office says”
The report findings
Special agent Taylor Burdie and Detective Blane Hicks led the investigation for the SBI. Dr. Kimberly Janssen, a forensic pathologist in the state’s Chief Medical Examiner’s office, performed the autopsy.
Because of his disease, Johnston County jail staff made efforts to schedule Cruz for kidney dialysis appointments at Fresenius Kidney Care in Smithfield, the report says.
In the report, staff said they were told Cruz had a history of noncompliance with his dialysis treatment. Out of the 53 appointments in the six months before Cruz was booked, he only made one. The sessions were supposedly scheduled three times a week.
Cruz also allegedly came to dialysis at Fresenius and told employees “he had ingested cocaine.”
“Fresenius employees also relayed instances where Cruz came to their facility and ingested cocaine and smoked marijuana in the lobby of their facility,” the report reads. “Specifically, on January 18, 2021, a Registered Nurse from Fresenius informed Johnston County Jail staff by fax that Fresenius would not see Cruz because of previous behavior at their facility and the safety and security risk to other patients”
The district attorney’s report said jail staff monitored Cruz’s kidney functions and “observed good urine output.”
“Jail staff determined that if Cruz’s vital signs deteriorated, Cruz would be taken to the hospital for dialysis,” the report states.
After Cruz was removed from suicide watch, he was placed on special watch, according to the report. The report does not reveal why Cruz was removed form suicide watch.
Checks were conducted on the night of Jan. 19 at 9:02 p.m., 9:15 p.m., and 9:36 p.m., about 11 minutes before Cruz was found unresponsive during the 9:47 p.m. check, the report says.
Doyle said after the investigation by the SBI, she has closed the criminal investigation into the case.
Jail deaths hit a record high in 2021
Cruz’s death is among the high number of jail deaths in the state in 2021.
Sixty-eight detainees died in jails that year, a 42% increase from 2020 where 48 detainees died, as reported by the News & Observer on July 11.
In at least 19 of those deaths, state inspectors found that detention officers weren’t conducting proper checks on inmates as often as they should have been.
The checks have been proven vital to preventing suicides and saving people in physical distress in the cell, The N&O has previously reported.
This story was originally published July 15, 2022 at 2:04 PM.