El Paso County Jail Sees Another Inmate Death | Local News
Another inmate at the El Paso County Jail died in custody over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths this year to nine.
As of last April, 11 had died in prison since January 2020 – two in 2020, five in 2021 and four this year at that time.
We have written on this issue earlier this year, citing Sheriff Bill Elder’s stance on why this is happening. At that time, he said that many sick people are locked up in prison.
“The people who get arrested are not the ones who go to the dentist every year and go to the doctor regularly,” Elder told us at the time. “These are the people who steal for a living. Many of them are homeless, or just on the verge of it. Maybe it’s not prison [that causes a death]. It just happens to be where they are at the time of their death.”
On Dec. 11, a female inmate, Savannah Poppell, 24, was found by a deputy unresponsive in her cell at 9:50 a.m., where she was the sole occupant. Life-saving measures were initiated by sheriff’s personnel and medical staff while responders from American Medical Response (AMR) and the Colorado Springs Fire Department took over medical care. But she died later.
Poppell was booked into the jail on Dec. 7 on charges of possession of a controlled substance, second-degree smuggling, criminal possession of a financial instrument, theft of more than $50 but less than $300, failure to provide evidence of insurance, speeding, shoplifting and trespassing on private property.
Her bond was set at $5,300, although some charges were unsecured due to her failure to appear in court.
On December 12, the El Paso County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy, with its preliminary findings that her death was likely due to “an upper gastrointestinal bleed from an esophageal laceration due to vomiting in withdrawal conditions of substance”.
The Coroner’s Office is awaiting toxicology results before determining the official cause and manner of death, the Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
Going back to Elder’s point about inmate health: He and County Coroner Leon Kelly say it makes sense to have a stronger system at the local level in which inmates can be released for ongoing health care. This concept is underlined by a study cited by Prison Policy Initiativewhich showed that “During the first two weeks after release from prison, people leaving custody face a risk of death more than 12 times higher than that of the general US population.”
Those who died in the county jail this year:
- Feb. 15: Sean Williams, 32, natural causes, autopsy pending. In jail for 22 days on $805 bond on charges of trespassing and shoplifting.
- March 17: Laura Gibbs, 41, hypertensive cardiovascular disease in the setting of recent methamphetamine and heroin intoxications. In jail for 1.5 days on a $2,000 bond for one count of criminal attempt.
- March 25: Leroy Eckhoff, 74, hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In jail for 35 days without bond on the criminal threatening charge and on a $2,000 bond on the child abuse charge.
- April 26: Cristo Canett, 48, died of peritonitis due to a perforated duodenal ulcer. In jail 1.5 days without bail on charges of second-degree kidnapping, parole violation and criminal mischief.
- June 9: Dezaree Archuleta, 18, was found unresponsive in her cell at 4:26 p.m. She died of suicide by suffocation and had been in jail for 24 days on charges of theft, robbery, assault and other charges. She had no connection.
- July 3: Cassandra Ramirez, 48, was found unresponsive in her cell at 9:16 p.m. She had been in jail for three days on $1,900 bond on charges of criminal impersonation, false reporting and other charges and died of methamphetamine intoxication.
- July 4: Daniel Murray, 37, was found unresponsive around 7:35 a.m. in his cell. He spent five days in jail on charges of breaching a restraining order and assault. He died of chronic alcohol abuse. He had no bond on some charges and $3,000 on others.
- Oct. 14: Felicia Hudson, 58, was found unresponsive in her cell at 10:22 p.m. “There appears to have been some significant heart disease at autopsy which may have contributed to her death,” a news release said at the time. She had been in jail for two days on a $1,000 bond on charges of criminal mischief, harassment and trespassing.
- December 11: Savannah Poppell (see above).
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deb Mynatt says Indy in an email, “Each of these cases are taken seriously and are troubling. Each has had an impact and is not taken lightly.”