The Cleveland County Detention Center announced Saturday an inmate died in custody after experiencing a medical episode and being transferred to the hospital.
William Kenneth Moore, 36, was declared deceased at Norman Regional Hospital at 11:54 p.m. on Friday. According to the Cleveland County Detention Center, Moore went to bed around 7:30 p.m. after being up and interacting with others. During an in-person sight check between 7:44 p.m. and 10 p.m., no issues were detected in the pod with Moore or the other inmates present.
At 10:55, five minutes after the in-person site check was logged, a medical alert was issued for Moore, who was unresponsive and still in his bunk. According to the detention center, medical and detention staff entered the unit two minutes later, CPR was initiated and EMS services dispatched. Moore was transferred to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Moore’s next of kin have been notified of his death.
Medical staff found no signs of physical trauma to Moore's body. The medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death, which has not been released.
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office is conducting a joint investigation with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The detention center press release said more information will be available after the investigation is complete.
Moore was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center on Dec. 13, 2022, following his arrest by District 21 on charges of aggravated trafficking of illegal substances and firearms violations, according to the release. He was later convicted and sentenced on some of these charges and has since been awaiting transfer to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Moore's death comes just three months after a federal lawsuit was filed in January against the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Turn Key Health Clinics and three medical professionals for allegedly contributing to the death of Shannon Hanchett, who died in the detention center's custody on Dec. 8, 2022.
Hanchett, an OU alumna and local business owner, was arrested at an AT&T store on Nov. 26, 2022, for placing false 911 calls and obstructing an officer. During booking, Hanchett told jail staff she suffered from bipolar disorder and lupus.
According to the lawsuit, medical staff did not evaluate Hanchett, whose mental and physical health deteriorated rapidly after being booked, for more than 72 hours after arriving at the jail and did not administer any psychotropic medications.
Medical staff reported Hanchett displayed suicidal ideation and was severely dehydrated, but that jailers routinely missed safety checks, which are required at least every 15 minutes for detainees in critical care — violent, suicidal or struggling with mental health problems.
On Dec. 7, 2022, jail staff found Hanchett unresponsive on the floor of her jail cell. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and Hanchett, 38, was pronounced dead around 1 a.m. on Dec. 8, just eight hours before she was scheduled for a mental health assessment.
A state medical examiner’s autopsy report determined Hanchett died of heart failure with significant contributing factors of psychosis with auditory and visual hallucinations and severe dehydration.
About two weeks later on Dec. 20, Kathryn Milano, 66, died in custody after suffering a medical emergency "related to pre-existing medical conditions," according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office. Milano's family said her incarceration was improperly handled and she did not receive proper care while in custody.
A May State Health Department inspection found jailers missed scheduled checks for four people detained in December and January. Logs from Dec. 5 and 6 reveal that detainees were left alone and unsupervised for up to 45 minutes at a time. Both Hanchett and Milano were awaiting mental health evaluations.
On Feb. 25, 2023, the detention center announced Joe Allen Sims Jr., 44, died by hanging while in the facility’s custody.
On Feb. 21, 2023, Turn Key, the Cleveland County Detention Center’s health care provider, proposed changes to their original contract. Changes include adding two positions, increasing medical and mental health professional hours and raising its monthly rates by around $43,000.
The amendment also requires health screenings to be provided immediately upon admission to the detention center. The detention center will no longer admit inmates without a health screening and noncompliant inmates will be provided a screening as soon as they become compliant, according to the new contract.
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office approved the contract with Turn Key Health during a Cleveland County Commissioners meeting in March 2023. After the vote, Cleveland County Commissioner Rod Cleveland said the move was in response to the jail’s growing population, not the in-custody deaths.
This story was edited by Peggy Dodd. Sophie Hemker and Grace Rhodes copy edited this story.
