A man died in custody of the Metropolitan Detention Center Friday morning.
Tia Bland, a Bernalillo County spokeswoman, said the man was found unresponsive while jail staff was organizing out-of-cell time for inmates in a living unit.
“Staff initiated rescue efforts and called for emergency medical services,” Bland wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, rescue efforts were unsuccessful and the individual was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m.”
She said they do not have an apparent cause of death yet and the jail is trying to notify the man’s next of kin.
The death is the latest in the troubled facility, which has seen a more than 50% vacancy rate among correctional officers, and understaffing and high turnover rates among medical staff.
A total of 19 people have died at the jail since the beginning of 2020, with several of those deaths occurring while people were detoxing from drugs or alcohol.
There have also been four suicides and one homicide, as well as natural deaths.
