INMATE CHARGED WITH MURDERING CELLMATE AT COUNTY JAIL

East County News Service

Update August 24, 2021:  The Medical Examiner has confirmed that the cause of death was strangulation and the manner of death was homicide.

August 23, 2021 (San Diego) – Last night around 7:10 p.m., deputies found an inmate at San Diego Central Jail unresponsive and suffering from traumatic injuries, says Lt. Thomas Siever.

The inmate died despite lifesaving efforts by firefighters, deputies and medical staff.

The Sheriff’s Homicide Unit identified Steven Young, 32, who shared a cell with the victim, as the suspect. Young has been charged with murder.

An autopsy of the victim is scheduled for tomorrow.  His name has not been released pending notification of his family.

More than 150 people have died in San Diego County detention centers since Bill Gore became Sheriff in 2009, Voice of San Diego reported in early July. A state legislative committee has approved a request by San Diego lawmakers led by Assemblywoman Akilah Weber for an independent state auditor investigation into the deaths which include suicides, drug overdoses, illnesses and violent causes.

A San Diego Union-Tribune investigation in September 2019 found that San Diego County jails had the highest mortality rate of any large county jail system in the state. That followed an investigation one year earlier by Disability Rights California, which called San Diego’s jails “a system failing people with mental illness.