GREGORY PARKER

TAVARES DILLON

JAMES WHITESHIELD

KING COUNTY JAIL INMATE DIES

Man had been hospitalized since July 26

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
Seattle PI Reporter
August 10, 2007

A King County Jail inmate died Friday morning at Harborview Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since being booked into the jail July 26.

Gregory Parker, 34, was arrested for allegedly possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, according to court documents. Jail spokesman Capt. Troy Bacon said.

Parker was taken to Harborview "immediately" after his booking. The cause of death has not been determined, and officials are awaiting toxicology results, the King County Medical Examiner's Office said.

Parker is the third King County Jail inmate to die this year. Tavares Dillon, 28, died of seizures on Feb. 22 after Seattle police found him with narcotics. Jail staff found another unidentified man unresponsive on the morning of July 19, and efforts to resuscitate him failed.

A 17-year-old boy, identified as James Whiteshield, also died in January at the King County Juvenile Detention Center.

UNNAMED FEMALE PRISONER

KING COUNTY JAIL INMATE DIES -- THE FOURTH THIS YEAR

By HECTOR CASTRO
P-I Reporter
September, 2007

Seattle police are investigating the death of a woman who died while in custody at the King County Jail Monday, the fourth person to die in custody this year.

The other deaths include a 17-year-old boy held at the Youth Services Center who died in January, a 28-year-old man who died on Feb. 22, and an inmate found dead in his cell July 19.

In this most recent incident, the inmate, described only as an adult female, was pronounced dead just before 8 a.m., the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention reported.

Jail officials, who did not identify the woman, said she was booked into the downtown jail about 1 a.m. Sunday. During a routine bed check about 7:30 a.m. Monday, a jail staff person found the woman unresponsive in her bed.

Seattle fire medics were called, but attempts to revive the woman failed.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy to determine a cause of death. In addition, the County Executive typically directs that an inquest be held to determine the circumstances of death for anyone who dies while in custody.

DENNIS K. SMITH

CONVICTED MURDERER FOUND HANGED IN CELL

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES
©1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Thursday, November 18, 2004

WALLA WALLA -- A Washington State Penitentiary inmate hanged himself in his cell and was discovered early yesterday, a prison spokeswoman said.

Dennis K. Smith, 42, who was serving a life sentence for aggravated first-degree murder in Clark County, hanged himself with a bed sheet attached to an air vent in his cell, Lori Scammahorn said. He was discovered about 3:45 a.m., she said.

He was alone in his cell and did not leave a note, she said.

Smith was out on parole when he killed Carolyn Kiloby in Clark County and then fled.

He was caught in Florida in 1996 after his case was featured on "America's Most Wanted," Scammahorn said.

ROBERT JAMES LEMIEUX

JAIL INMATE IN TACOMA DIES OF
APPARENTLY DELIBERATE DRUG OVERDOSE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Information from: The News Tribune
Wednesday, June 1, 2005 • Last updated 5:57 a.m. PT

TACOMA, Wash. -- A man convicted of killing another man after finding his estranged wife at the other man's house committed suicide in jail by overdosing on prescription medication, authorities said.

Robert James Lemieux, 40, was found dead in his cell early Saturday, two days after he was convicted of first-degree murder and arson in the shooting of Terry Eugene Rohr, Pierce County sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said. He was scheduled for sentencing July 1.

Lemieux left a suicide note, Troyer said. Contents of the note were not released.

Troyer said Lemieux apparently pretended to take his prescription medication for some time and stored a dose big enough to be fatal. The medication was not disclosed.

Lemieux was arrested after Rohr was shot to death July 21.

According to testimony in Lemieux's trial, he told detectives he went to Rohr's house near Eabonville that morning to see whether his estranged wife was having an affair and set fire to the front porch to "smoke them out."

He said he had not intended to kill Rohr and brought a .35-caliber rifle only for protection but fired several shots at the other man in anger when he saw the two run outside to escape the flames.

His estranged wife escaped injury.

CAROL LYNN KURTZHALS

INMATE DEAD IN APPARENT SUICIDE AT CHELAN COUNTY JAIL

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, March 14, 2005 • Last updated 6:26 a.m. PT

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- A woman being held in a domestic violence case apparently hanged herself with a bedsheet at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center, authorities said.

Along with the body of Carol Lynn Kurtzhals, 45, of Wenatchee, jail guards found several notes to her relatives, Sheriff Michael T. Harum said.

Guards brought her some medication for a contagious viral infection about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, and she was dead when a jailer went to get her for lunch about 11:30 a.m., Harum said.

Kurtzhals was arrested March 5 for investigation of fourth-degree assault domestic violence and "wasn't disruptive at all" in jail, Harum said, adding that there was no indication of negligence by the jail staff.

FACTOR 8: THE ARKANSAS PRISON BLOOD SCANDAL

Kelly Duda and Concrete Films have produced a documentary which details the corruption and greed that led the Arkansas Department of Correction to spread death from Arkansas prisons to the entire world. Hear the story from the mouths of those responsible for the harvesting of infected human blood plasma, and its sale to be made into medicines.

Duda's award-winning film unflinchingly documents the whole story the U.S. government and the state of Arkansas have tried to keep hidden from the world.

Click the photo of Kelly Duda at work to order your own copy of
"Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal"

Click the photo of Kelly Duda at work to visit the
Factor 8 Documentary website

Please help spread the word about this important film,
along with the urls to the linked pages.

This PRUP (Prison Reform Unity Project) site owned by

Linda Tant Miller
[Previous 5 Sites | Previous | Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site | List Sites ]

Read my Dreambook! Sign my Dreambook!