A 24-year-old man being held in Cook County Jail died Thursday evening after a fire broke out in his cell inside the facility’s residential treatment unit, raising fresh questions about safety and oversight at the sprawling lockup.
Officials say the man, identified as Martinez Duncan, was moved to a holding area after deputies put out the flames. He initially appeared able to walk on his own, according to authorities, but later became unresponsive and was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner has already conducted an autopsy, and state investigators are expected to review what happened.
What officials said
According to the sheriff’s office, officers responded around 7:15 p.m. to a fire inside a cell in the residential treatment unit at 2700 S. California Ave. Deputies reported extinguishing the blaze and escorting Duncan and his cellmate to a separate holding area. Both men were said to be able to walk under their own power at that point.
Inside the holding area, Duncan became unresponsive and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. A preliminary review by officials attributed the fire to a “lit wick” that authorities described as a smoldering bundle of tightly wound toilet paper commonly used to smoke illegal drugs. The Cook County medical examiner’s office has completed an autopsy, with further testing underway, and state investigators are expected to conduct an independent investigation, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Deaths in custody and oversight concerns
Duncan’s death comes as Cook County Jail faces mounting scrutiny over deaths in custody. Recent investigative work has documented a spike in detainee fatalities and recurring failures in supervision and medical response inside the jail.
A yearlong review identified 18 detainee deaths in 2023 and highlighted gaps in monitoring, reporting, and internal oversight that advocates argue make independent review a necessity, not a luxury. Those findings have fueled louder demands for transparency from county officials, according to Injustice Watch.
RTU staffing and safety problems
Separate watchdog reporting on the jail’s Residential Treatment Unit has painted a troubling picture of daily operations there, describing how chronic understaffing, broken equipment and rigid management practices can combine to create dangerous conditions on segregation tiers.
A recent investigation by C4 outlined a chain of failures surrounding another RTU fire: a missing officer, a makeshift wick passed into a cell, a delay in opening the door and the use of chemical spray inside a smoke-filled cell. Critics say that the sequence reflects the same kind of vulnerabilities that can lead to preventable harm. Those reports, along with internal documents, raise questions about whether staffing levels and policy decisions slowed the emergency response, according to C4 News.
Investigation and legal implications
The Cook County medical examiner’s office says additional testing is in progress to determine the precise cause and manner of Duncan’s death. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is expected to carry out an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fire and the response that followed.
Duncan had been in custody awaiting trial on allegations that he stabbed a family member and a responding officer, charges that could influence how prosecutors approach the case while investigators sift through the evidence. Civil-rights and jail reform advocates say the findings from the autopsy and the outside investigation could set the stage for administrative discipline or potential legal action, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
