New details provided by Lewis County Sheriff’s Department regarding inmate death
More details have been released by the Lewis County Sheriff Department regarding a jail inmate that died over Labor Day weekend.
McClatchy first reported that Matthew Potter, 47, of Pe Ell died shortly after being taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital in the early morning hours of Sept. 3.
In an email to McClatchy Thursday, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said that Potter was found unconscious in his single cell by corrections officers conducting regular checks in the late evening hours of Sept. 2. No other inmates had access to the cell, Breen said.
Jail medical and corrections officers then performed “life-saving efforts” on Potter, according to Breen. Dispatch records obtained by McClatchy showed that an ambulance was called at 11:10 p.m. by a deputy inside the jail.
Dispatch records also showed that Potter’s death was reported by medical staff at Providence Centralia around 2:40 a.m., just hours after arriving at the hospital.
“The Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into the death, but there is currently no suspicion of foul play,” Breen told McClatchy. “Once cause and manner of death, as well as toxicology, is obtained, the investigation will be completed.”
An Unexpected Fatality Review will then be conducted as outlined in Washington state law, Breen said.
