Antoine Emel Dewhitt, a 40-year-old Oakland native, died in a hospital roughly three weeks after a medical emergency at Santa Rita Jail, making him the fifth person to die in the jail's custody in 2026. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office initially did not include him in that tally, an oversight that came to light after his sister pushed for answers.
Dewhitt was taken to Santa Rita Jail on a probation violation and had been there less than a day before he was rushed to the hospital, according to a report from KTVU. His sister, Antoinette Staples, said he experienced a medical emergency at the jail in mid-April 2026 and was taken to the hospital twice that same day. Santa Rita Jail released him from custody while he was being treated, and he was pronounced dead on May 9, 2026, according to Staples.
Staples said her brother died from complications related to an overdose, and his death certificate showed he had taken an excessive amount of fentanyl. “I have so many questions,” Staples said, a sentiment that speaks to how little clarity her family has been given about what happened to him in the weeks between his collapse and his death.
A Death the Sheriff's Office Didn't Initially Count
According to the same KTVU report, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office mistakenly did not count Dewhitt as an in-custody death because of an oversight. Sgt. Roberto Morales acknowledged Dewhitt's death only after receiving information from his sister, and the sheriff's office now says it will count his death among five in-custody deaths in 2026. Staples came forward after learning that a 36-year-old Oakland woman had died at Santa Rita Jail in October.
That woman was Jessica Watson, who had been in jail since Oct. 10 after being booked on suspicion of domestic violence and driving under the influence, according to sfchronicle.com. Deputies performing a welfare check on Watson on Oct. 13 found her unresponsive in her cell with what appeared to be a ligature around her neck, and she died at a hospital on Oct. 22. The outlet reported that her official cause of death remains pending the results of an autopsy and toxicology test.
Watson's death followed others earlier in the year. Kenyonna Farr, a 37-year-old Oakland woman, was found dead at Santa Rita Jail after being cleared by medical personnel and returned from a hospital evaluation, according to the Pleasanton Weekly. Jeffrey McMaster, a 44-year-old Oakland man, died at the jail after a medical emergency; the East Bay Times reported that he died over a weekend.
A Troubled Pattern at the Dublin Facility
Santa Rita Jail's death toll has become a point of dispute among news organizations. KTVU reported in a separate piece that 72 people had died there since 2014, based on a list last updated in April 2025, while NBC Bay Area reported in late 2023 that at least 68 people, including Maurice Monk, had died in custody since 2014. The seed KTVU report on Dewhitt's death attributes a total of 80 deaths in custody at Santa Rita Jail since 2014 to its own data and reporting — figures that do not align, underscoring how difficult it has been to pin down a consistent count.
KTVU has reported that many of the more recent in-custody deaths resulted from medical inattention and drug overdoses, and that Santa Rita Jail has the highest number of in-custody deaths in the Bay Area, with a death rate even higher than that of Los Angeles County's jail system. A 2019 KTVU analysis also concluded that a disproportionately high number of people who died at the jail had been placed in isolation beforehand, including people who died by suicide.
Maurice Monk, a 45-year-old Oakland man, died at Santa Rita Jail in November 2021 after his family said staff left him unattended in his cell for three days while he was unresponsive, according to NBC Bay Area's report. An autopsy found that Monk died of heart disease.
State Inspectors Flag Safety-Check Failures
A 2025-2026 inspection by the Board of State and Community Corrections identified Santa Rita Jail as noncompliant with Title 15 Section 1027.5, the state standard governing safety checks.
Remembering Antoine Dewhitt
Born and raised in Oakland, Dewhitt attended Parker Elementary, King Estates Middle School and Castlemont High School before earning his GED. He played drums for his church and was known for his hands, building makeshift toys, a tree swing and a basketball hoop for the people around him. Staples described her brother as someone who could make something out of nothing.
Dewhitt's biological mother died when he and his sister were teenagers, and their grandmother, Oletha Staples, raised him afterward. His father was incarcerated for most of his life. Dewhitt served 12 years in prison for larceny and carjacking and was released in 2023; his grandmother died just one month later. Staples said her brother had been doing the best she had ever seen him in the time since, and said she believed he had been born addicted to drugs. She also said a relative left Dewhitt out of their grandmother's will and took everything.
Dewhitt left behind his daughter, Akayla Dewhitt; his girlfriend, Latida Daniels; and his sisters, including Antoinette Staples and Karess Reed. Staples said she hopes to hold a memorial for her brother soon.
