Inmate Nathan Webster Dies in California’s Shasta County Jail
In California news, an inmate passed away in Shasta County Jail last weekend.
On Sunday, according to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), jail staff were conducting their usual rounds to check on the welfare of the detainees. At about 6:30 p.m., they discovered 46-year-old Nathan Arthur Webster unresponsive in his cell. Deputies and medical staff attempted lifesaving measures. Sadly, despite their efforts, Nathan Webster was pronounced deceased in his cell on September 14, 2025.
The ongoing investigation of Mr. Webster’s death is being handled by the Major Crimes Unit of the SCSO in conjunction with the Shasta County Coroner’s Office and the Redding Police Department’s Detective Division.
The address of the Shasta County Jail is 1655 West St, Redding, CA 96001. The jail’s maximum bed capacity is 484.
Shasta County Jail Reports Inmate Deaths Associated with Withdrawal
Shasta County Jail in California reported 22 in-custody inmate deaths from 2019 through 2024. Other jails in the area had very few. Butte County Jail had 5 in that same time period. There was one detainee death each in Madera and Imperial counties. Deaths associated with withdrawal in Shasta County have been a particular matter of public concern and discussion.
The Shasta Grand Jury found that, within 13 months, five inmate deaths were caused by high-risk behaviors such as drug use and not procedural failures at the county jail. From December 2024 through mid-February 2025, three men died at Shasta County Jail who fit that category. Those inmates were:
- Jonathan Hurtado, 24, died on December 12, 2022, after which officials said it was a suspected fentanyl overdose;
- Raymond Leon Burns, 58, died on February 15, 2024; and
- Jedidiah Peltier, 45, died on February 21, 2024.
A Shasta County Inmate, Manuel Diaz, Died After Suffering Medical Distress
Sixty-year-old Manuel Galindo Diaz was incarcerated in Shasta County Jail when he died on September 6, 2024, after suffering medical distress. In-custody deaths are always investigated. The results may or may not show that a custodial death occurred after an inmate complained of illness or extreme pain, sometimes for days, and received no medical attention.
The families of inmates who die in jail often have suspicions of their own due to contact with their loved ones shortly before the custodial death occurred. When autopsies reveal that inmates died of conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis or sepsis, the issue of medical neglect should be thoroughly probed. Both deadly conditions are usually entirely preventable. See examples below.
- Trevor Saunders died of pneumonia in Maine’s Androscoggin County Jail. Mr. Saunder’s mother claims that the jail medical staff ignored many opportunities to administer care before his death.
- Lucas Bellamy suffered a perforated bowel and died in Minnesota’s Hennepin County Jail on July 20, 2022. Video footage provided evidence of the family’s claim that their loved one was ignored, though he was pleading for medical attention.
The address of Androscoggin County Jail is 40 Pleasant St, Auburn, Maine 04210.
Hennepin County Jail is also known as Hennepin County Public Safety Facility Adult Detention Center, and it has two locations. Those addresses are 401 South 4th Avenue, Suite 100, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415 and the Hennepin County City Hall Adult Detention Center is at 350 South 5th Street, which has the same city, state, and zip code.
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