The custodial death of 19-year-old Jafar Albumohammed is currently being investigated by the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation. Albumohammed died while incarcerated at Woodward County Jail in Woodward, Oklahoma, on March 11, 2018. He had been booked into the jail late the night before. A few hours later, at 4 a.m. Sunday, during routine cell checks performed by jail staff, he was discovered dead in his cell. The cause of death is not known. Sheriff Kevin Mitchell of Woodward County said OSBI is performing an external investigation, to avoid the appearance that there is any type of cover up. An autopsy is awaited, and no further evidence may be released until the investigation is completed.
On at least one other occasion this year, a prisoner at an Oklahoma County Jail was found unresponsive within hours of being arrested. This was the case with Marconia Kessee, an African American who was arrested and booked into Cleveland County Jail in Norman on January 16, 2018. He did not immediately die, but he was discovered unresponsive within hours of arrest and taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died. In this case, a video of the interaction the prisoner had with law enforcement officers was released just hours after his death. The investigation into Kessee’s death likely still continues, as no results have been announced.
Sometimes jail staff and other law enforcement officials who interact with prisoners are held responsible for actions that lead to a prisoner’s death. Failure to provide needed medical care is an example of what can result in an unnecessary death, though it doesn’t necessarily apply in either of these cases.
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