An inmate found dead in his Pima County jail cell apparently committed suicide, jail officials said Monday.
At about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, corrections officers doing a security check found the inmate who had tied a sheet to the top bunk bed and the other end around his neck causing his own strangulation, according to a news release from the Pima County Sheriff's Department, which operates the jail.
Medical personnel attempted to resuscitate the inmate but he was pronounced dead. Detectives did not find signs of trauma and no suspicious circumstances, officials said.
The inmate was identified as Amin Shaheed Muhammad Ali, 40. He was in custody on suspicion of introducing contraband into a corrections facility.
This was the second apparent inmate suicide at the jail since last week, when another man was found strangled with socks tied to a toilet and to his neck.
Protesters, drawing attention to a decade-high number of deaths at the jail, were dispersed by Sheriff's Department personnel after an attempted arrest.
