Prison Deaths Los Angeles

A Playa del Rey man who owned Chippendale's--the male strip club--committed suicide in a Downtown jail cell early Monday morning, just hours before he was scheduled to be sentenced to a lengthy prison term for the murder-for-hire of his former business partner. A federal prison spokesman said that correctional officers found Somen (Steve) Banerjee lying dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center shortly before 4 a.m. "Mr.

It's approaching midnight as Kevin Lamar Evans is maneuvered in an L.A. County wheelchair into the forensic inpatient unit of the mammoth Twin Towers jail--a banal brown behemoth of postmodern prison architecture that stands like an unwelcoming sentinel on the eastern fringes of downtown Los Angeles. Just 4 years old, Twin Towers is a vast improvement over the old, dungeon-like Men's Central Jail.

She spent her last days at the Van Nuys jail pleading that the pain was overwhelming her frail body. Kathleen Barkley was going through heroin withdrawal, and it was driving her crazy. Dora, a woman housed in the neighboring jail cell, said Barkley had begged jail officers to get her medical treatment. Police, who acknowledge that Barkley asked for assistance, said they did provide Barkley some medical treatment, although they decline to specify what is was. Even so, sometime before 3 a.m.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously ordered a full review of the jailhouse death of a mentally ill transient who died after being placed in restraints by sheriff's deputies. The supervisors asked Merrick Bobb, an attorney who monitors the Sheriff's Department for the board, to hire outside experts and to examine the events that led to the death of Kevin Lamar Evans. Supervisors two weeks ago paid $600,000 to Evans' survivors.

Jack Goga, a former Motown songwriter accused of killing a Woodland Hills man and an aspiring woman singer, died in custody this week while awaiting his murder trial, officials said Wednesday. Goga, 52, was found dead in his cell at County-USC Medical Center's jail ward Tuesday afternoon, said Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman Scott Carrier.

In an ominous finding for the Sheriff's Department, the county coroner's office has ruled that the death of jail inmate Danny Smith was a homicide, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said Friday. Smith died of a heart attack "brought on by the struggle" with deputies at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, said Anthony Hernandez, director of the coroner's office. The Aug.

A 41-year-old former construction worker who died in the County-USC Medical Center jail ward after struggling with deputies in March succumbed to a combination of the officers' use of restraint maneuvers and severe heart disease, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Thursday. After months of delay as medical examiners conducted specialized forensics tests in the sensitive case, the coroner's office ruled that John Bernard Wiley Jr.'s death was a homicide.

A pair of teen-age gang members who were among the mourners at a comrade's funeral have been arrested in the widely publicized shooting death of a gang rival outside the church memorial in South-Central Los Angeles, police announced Thursday.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously ordered a full review of the jailhouse death of a mentally ill transient who died after being placed in restraints by sheriff's deputies. The supervisors asked Merrick Bobb, an attorney who monitors the Sheriff's Department for the board, to hire outside experts and to examine the events that led to the death of Kevin Lamar Evans. Supervisors two weeks ago paid $600,000 to Evans' survivors.

An inmate who was apparently beaten to death was found Saturday by sheriff's deputies in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, just north of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. The man, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was discovered at 12:30 a.m. motionless and face down, said Deputy Steve Sciacca, adding that jail medical personnel later pronounced him dead.

The death of a 33-year-old man in Twin Towers Jail last fall was the result of a heart attack that might have been triggered by the restraints used by sheriff's deputies, who then attempted to conceal their actions, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's report.

The family of a man who died in police custody last year has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department, seeking unspecified damages. Dale Weight, 58, was arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness on Jan. 23, 1999, and taken to Van Nuys Jail, where he was found dead several hours later, said Michael Adelson, an attorney representing Weight's children. At the time, police attributed the death to an apparent heart attack. Lt.

An inmate at the Men's Central Jail died Monday of injuries he suffered during an attack by five cellmates, authorities said. Mauricio Avalos, 19, was taken to the County-USC Medical Center jail ward after being attacked late Saturday, said sheriff's spokesman Cruz Solis. Avalos underwent surgery Sunday. His conditioned worsened and he died early Monday. Avalos was housed in a six-person cell with the other inmates.

Officials on Sunday identified a 58-year-old man who died in police custody this weekend as Dale White. Police said White was a transient who was arrested Saturday morning in the West Valley on suspicion of public drunkenness. He was booked at the Van Nuys Jail around 9:25 a.m. At about 2:30 p.m., White began experiencing delirium tremens and was moved to the Van Nuys Jail medical ward, said Officer Eddy Zelaya of the Los Angeles Police Department.

A man arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness died in police custody Saturday of an apparent heart attack, police said. The 58-year-old man was arrested in the 19200 block of Roscoe Boulevard and booked at the Van Nuys Jail about 9:25 a.m., said Lt. Tim Moss of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division. The man, whose name was not released, was given a medical screening at the jail that revealed no illness or injury, Moss said.

In an ominous finding for the Sheriff's Department, the county coroner's office has ruled that the death of jail inmate Danny Smith was a homicide, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said Friday. Smith died of a heart attack "brought on by the struggle" with deputies at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, said Anthony Hernandez, director of the coroner's office. The Aug.

It's approaching midnight as Kevin Lamar Evans is maneuvered in an L.A. County wheelchair into the forensic inpatient unit of the mammoth Twin Towers jail--a banal brown behemoth of postmodern prison architecture that stands like an unwelcoming sentinel on the eastern fringes of downtown Los Angeles. Just 4 years old, Twin Towers is a vast improvement over the old, dungeon-like Men's Central Jail.

A 52-year-old inmate was found dead in her jail cell Sunday morning, just three days after she had been arrested on a drug charge, Los Angeles police said. The woman's cause of death is still under investigation, but police said there were no obvious signs of trauma. Authorities declined to identify her Sunday because relatives had not been notified.

As they await autopsy results on a handcuffed prisoner who died in an altercation with deputies, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials announced plans Monday to install video and audio monitors in cell blocks at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun investigating the case of a Twin Towers Correctional Facility inmate, Danny Smith, who the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department admitted Tuesday was handcuffed during the altercation with deputies that ended with his death. That admission directly contradicts the department's previous account of the Aug. 1 death. The sheriff's initial news release said the incident began after deputies removed Smith's handcuffs.