The San Diego County Sheriff's homicide unit is investigating the death of a 45-year-old man at Vista Jail, sheriff's officials said. He was found hanging in his cell during a nighttime security check, was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead about an hour later. Officials have described the death as an apparent suicide.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that deputies found him around 10:50 p.m. and began life-saving measures while calling 911. He had been housed alone in a cell.
The newspaper reported that the sheriff's homicide unit responded and is investigating the in-custody death. Officials said the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to determine the official cause and manner of death.
Inmate Was Facing Child Molestation Allegations
The man's name had not been released, and he was scheduled to return to court the following week, according to the newspaper. Sheriff's homicide Lieutenant Juan Marquez said in a news release that the man had been arrested in February 2024 on suspicion of several child molestation allegations.
The Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board, known as CLERB, was notified of the incident.
What official records show about jail deaths
Statewide figures offer context but do not establish the cause of this death: the California State Auditor reported that annual deaths in county jails rose from 130 in 2006 to 156 in 2020. Those totals cover in-custody deaths generally, not suicides specifically. The auditor also says state law requires county sheriff's departments and other custodial agencies to report in-custody deaths to the state Attorney General within 10 days; that requirement is not a finding about this case. San Diego County records describe earlier, distinct cases. The Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board’s 2017 annual report listed an inmate suicide by hanging at Facility 8 Detention Facility in 2017, not Vista. A separate CLERB findings report says Ryan Patrick Thuresson was found unresponsive at Vista Detention Facility on Feb. 1, 2023, and died on Feb. 4; it lists combined fentanyl and fluorofentanyl toxicity as the cause and accident as the manner of death. CLERB’s rules describe its mission as including independent reviews of complaints and deaths, but notification of this incident does not itself mean the board has reached findings. Separately, the 2024/2025 San Diego County Grand Jury found the Sheriff’s Office lacked a publicly accessible dashboard tracking performance indicators for medical and mental health service requests; that system-level finding is not evidence about this death or its cause.
Sheriff's Office Assigns Liaison to Family
The sheriff's office extended sympathies to the decedent's family and others affected by the loss, and it assigned a family liaison officer to support them through the process, the same source reports. No further details about the circumstances surrounding the death have been released.
