Editor’s note: This article includes mention of suicide. Additional resources have been included in this story.
Two Cleveland County Detention Center inmates were pronounced dead following attempts of suicide in August, the sixth and seventh death at the detention center in two years.
According to a press release from the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, Daniel Edward Freeman, 58, was pronounced dead at 11:55 p.m. on Aug. 25 at Norman Regional Hospital.
At 11:05 p.m., Cleveland County Detention Center staff found Freeman hanging in his cell.
Upon finding Freeman, staff immediately administered care and transferred him to Norman Regional. According to the release, Freeman was moving before lights out at 10 p.m.
Freeman was booked into detention center on Aug. 22, after being arrested on charges of burglary in the first degree, kidnapping and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
On Thursday, the sheriff's office issued another press release announcing the death of Nicole Deann McComb, 49.
Detention center staff responded to a welfare check nine minutes after McComb’s had ended a phone call with her mother. According to the release, McComb showed no signs of distress before her suicide.
Like Freeman, McComb was found hanging in her cell. Staff immediately administered care to McComb before transferring her to Norman Regional.
McComb’s pulse was restored at the hospital where she remained in critical condition into the following day. According to the release, McComb was taken off life support after she no longer had brain activity.
McComb was booked into the detention center on Aug. 23 after being arrested on charges of aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs. The deaths of Freeman and McComb mark the sixth and seventh deaths of Cleveland County Detention Center inmates since 2022.
In May, inmate Thomas Sanchez Pesina, 58, was pronounced dead at Norman Regional Hospital. In April, William Kenneth Moore, 36, died in custody after a medical episode. In February 2023, Joe Allen Sims Jr., 44, died by suicide while in detention center custody.
In January, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Turn Key Health Clinics and three medical professionals alleging Shannon Hanchett, known as the Cookie Queen had her constitutional rights disregarded, contributing to her death while in custody on Dec. 8, 2022.
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.
Freeman’s cause of death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner’s office and an investigation is currently ongoing with the assistance of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. McComb’s death is also currently under investigation.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Anusha Fathepure. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
