Keith Jrome Taylor Dies in St. Louis County Jail
During routine inmate checks at Minnesota’s St. Louis County Jail, 56-year-old Keith Jrome Taylor was discovered unconscious and unresponsive in his cell at about 9:30 a.m. on June 24, 2025. Jail staff immediately removed Mr. Taylor from the cell and began providing lifesaving care. Emergency medical personnel were asked to respond as well, but all efforts to resuscitate Mr. Taylor were unsuccessful. He was pronounced deceased that same morning.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) conducted a preliminary investigation and found no obvious signs of trauma on Mr. Taylor. His cause of death is pending an autopsy, and the investigation into his death is ongoing.
The address of St. Louis County Jail is 4334 Haines Rd, Duluth, MN 55811. The Duluth jail has a 197-bed capacity.
An Inmate’s Death in a Minnesota County Jail Comes Under Scrutiny
In response to July 2020 investigative reporting, a crisis was recognized among Minnesota county jails. Several inmate deaths raised concerns, including vulnerable inmates with mental health issues committing suicide and others who were pleading for help but were allegedly denied medical care.
The account of Hardel Sherell’s death in the Beltrami County Jail became the impetus for legislative action. The bill calling for criminal justice reform was named the “Hardel Sherell Act.” Mr. Sherell had been incarcerated in the Minnesota jail in 2018 and was awaiting trial. He developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, as he was awaiting trial.
Mr. Sherell’s condition causes paralysis, and he not only became immobile, but he was also barely responsive to stimuli. Jailers did not believe that Mr. Sherell had a legitimate problem, even when he lost control of his bladder and bowels. Within a week, Mr. Sherell died. The last days of his life were spent sitting on the floor in his own excrement for 8 hours at a time. Sources have said that his death was entirely preventable.
The address of Beltrami County Jail is 626 Minnesota Ave NW, Bemidji, MN 56601. The maximum bed capacity at the jail is 80.
Joshua Fury Died by a Potentially Preventable Suicide in the Hennepin County Jail
Joshua Fury was placed in Minnesota’s Hennepin County Jail after pleading guilty to murdering his wife. Mr. Fury made suicidal, delusional statements and said he would kill himself if he were given a chance. Yet, he was taken off suicide watch after five weeks “due to good behavior.” He was moved to a part of the jail for inmates with mental health struggles. A week before his sentencing, Mr. Fury hung himself from a smoke detector in his cell.
But this was just part of a larger issue. Within the previous five years, 63 inmate deaths occurred in Minnesota county jails, and 33 were suicides. Hennepin County Adult Detention Center was the location of 7 of those suicides.
While the above statistics were being analyzed, Sheriff Dave Hutchinson told news investigators that the numbers at Hennepin County Jail are inflated because it is the largest county jail in the state by three times. He shared that, as of February 2021, there had been 20 interventions that stopped attempted suicides and acts of self-harm so far that year. Sheriff Hutchinson further said that in 2017, there were 169 interventions.
The bed capacity at Hennepin County Adult Detention Center in Plymouth, MN, is 829.
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