Inmate dies at Pitchess

An inmate who suffered a seizure and died at the North County Correctional Facility Sunday likely died of natural causes, the investigating homicide detective said Monday.

The inmate, whose name was not released and who was described only as 41 years old, died Sunday morning shortly after inmates told Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies he had suffered a seizure.

“There is nothing suspicious about this death,” Detective Philip Guzman of the LASD’s Homicide Bureau said Monday.

“We have to wait for the findings of the autopsy by the (Los Angeles County) Coroner, but it appears to be a natural death, a heart attack or something like that,” Guzman said. “There is nothing criminal about this at all.”

Lt. Larry Dietz of the Coroner’s Department said Monday that investigators are still trying to locate the inmate’s next of kin.

Homicide detectives responded to the North County Correctional Facility at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic on Sunday to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.

The inmate reportedly suffered a seizure at 7:05 a.m. Sunday and was being transported to the facility infirmary when he became unresponsive. Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics were called and pronounced him dead at the scene.