A Cleveland County Detention Center inmate died early Sunday morning, the 10th death in the last three years.
According to a Facebook post by the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Carl Douglas Kachel, 53, was pronounced dead at 3:15 a.m. after going into medical distress and becoming unresponsive during a diabetic check just after 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
According to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, life-saving measures were conducted by detention center staff and medical personnel before Kachel was moved to Norman Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to Oklahoma court records, a criminal warrant was issued for Kachel in 2009 for the embezzlement of rented property. The return warrant was filed on March 27 this year.
According to the Facebook post, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been contacted to assist with the investigation and the Office of the State Medical Examiner will determine Kachel’s official cause of death.
Background
In March, TK Health, formerly Turn Key Health Clinics, the medical contractor at the Cleveland County Detention Center, announced that it would not renew its contract with Cleveland County. The company said it would leave the jail on June 30.
Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason told The Frontier in March he was already planning to seek new bids for the contract before receiving the letter from TK Health.
“There was some talk about the price last year — the price of the service,” Amason told The Frontier. “And I think this was just the perfect opportunity for both of us to kind of evaluate what’s best for each of us.”
Kachel’s is the latest of a series of deaths at the detention center. The ninth death was announced in January, the eighth death was announced in October and two deaths announced in August, where both inmates died by suicide.
In August, the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners approved a contract with SIMCO Correctional Consulting LLC, a firm specializing in the operation and safety of correctional facilities, to investigate potential causes of the string of deaths within the Cleveland County Detention Center.
In May 2024, inmate Thomas Sanchez Pesina, 58, was pronounced dead at Norman Regional Hospital. A month prior, William Kenneth Moore, 36, died in custody after a medical episode. In February 2023, Joe Allen Sims Jr., 44, died by suicide while in custody.
Shannon Hanchett, known as the Cookie Queen who ran a bakery in downtown Norman, died in the Cleveland County Jail on Dec. 8, 2022 after being arrested on a complaint of misdemeanor obstruction and false reporting.
In January 2024, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, TK Health and three medical professionals, alleging Hanchett had her constitutional rights disregarded, contributing to her death while in custody, but the lawsuit was dismissed months later in August.
Shortly after Hanchett’s death, Kathryn Milano, 66, died in custody on Dec. 20, 2022, after suffering a medical emergency “related to pre-existing medical conditions,” according to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.
This story was edited by Natalie Armour. Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
