Last October, an Arizona man reportedly died of natural causes while in custody at the Montezuma County jail.<\/p>\n
Montezuma County Coroner Charlie Rosenbaugh said the early morning death of 38-year-old Harrison M. Begay of Tonalea, Ariz., on Oct. 27, was due to \u201cnatural causes from chronic use of alcohol.\u201d In custody for nearly 26 hours, Begay was being held for the Cortez Police Department on a charge of trespassing.<\/p>\n
According to an eight-page \u201cunattended death\u201d report from the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Rosenbaugh arrived on the scene just after 4 a.m. to discover Begay had a black eye with wounds on his forehead and nose. The report adds that blood was found inside Begay\u2019s nostrils.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoroner Rosenbaugh was not able to determine a cause of death, and advised an autopsy would be conducted the following week,\u201d Deputy John Hancock wrote in the report.<\/p>\n
The report states that Begay was last seen alive by a jailer about 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 26. Just before midnight, jailers placed a 21-year-old inmate in the same cell, and a third 24-year-old inmate was placed in the cell about 3 a.m. on Oct. 27, the report reveals.<\/p>\n
Interviewed by a sheriff\u2019s official, the 21-year-old inmate told authorities that Begay \u201cnever moved\u201d during the three hours they shared the cell, even while he talked on the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoroner Rosenbaugh advised that due to rigormortis Begay had probably expired between (midnight) and 3 a.m.,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n
The report also reveals that initial life-saving measures to revive Begay included chest compressions without respirations. An automated external defibrillator was also used, the report states.<\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s report states that Begay was cleared by Southwest Memorial Hospital before being admitted into the jail, and that Begay was \u201cextremely intoxicated.\u201d Some 12 hours after being brought into the jail, the report states, Begay registered 0.15 on a portable Breathalyzer.<\/p>\n
The second inmate to die while in the sheriff\u2019s custody in four months, Begay was a married, unemployed construction worker. The sheriff\u2019s report shows that he was a 5-foot-6-inch Native American weighing 230 pounds.<\/p>\n
Sheriff\u2019s timeline<\/p>\n
A timeline of cell checks reportedly conducted on Begay were originally kept in written form. Spruell provided the Cortez Journal with a typed two-and-a-quarter page copy of the jailer\u2019s written log.<\/p>\n
Spruell said jailers were ordered to keep Begay on a medical watch, explaining that jailers kept a written log of every time they checked on the inmate. According to the log, Begay was placed on medical watch starting at 1:50 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26. The log indicates that Begay slept through the night until 8:30 a.m., when he received his first meal.<\/p>\n
The log reveals that jailers noted that Begay remained \u201clying down, asleep\u201d throughout the morning until 1 p.m. At 1:15, a shift supervisor noted that Begay \u201cseemed disoriented\u201d as he answered medical and booking information.<\/p>\n
Begay\u2019s second and final meal, according to the log, was served at 3:57 p.m., but Spruell said the log doesn\u2019t reflect when meals were served the day in question.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur feeding times are 8 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.,\u201d he explained. \u201cMr. Begay was taken off the (medical) watch at 7:22 p.m., so the feeding log would no longer be kept. He was never denied food.\u201d<\/p>\n
The typed log indicates that after booking, jailors performed routine \u201cwelfare\u201d checks every half-hour or so up until the last check at 7:22 p.m. The next cell check, labeled as a \u201cbooking\u201d check, occurred nearly two hours later, at 9:19 p.m. Two minutes later, a deputy opened the door to holding cell four, followed by a booking check at 9:50 p.m., the log states.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelfare check is checking on the welfare of an individual that may require extra attention,\u201d Spruell clarified. \u201cA booking check is routine checks to make sure everybody is in their cell with no abnormalities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The log indicates that no other cell checks were conducted before a deputy opened the holding cell door nearly two-and-a-half hours later, at 12:15 a.m. on Oct. 27. The log indicates the door was opened three additional times within 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBegay was not the only inmate in that cell,\u201d Spruell said. \u201cAnother inmate was booked in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next booking cell check occurred nearly an hour-and-a-half later, at 1:53 a.m., with the final booking check at 2:57 a.m., 10 minutes before deputies reported Begay dead in his cell.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must consider the hour,\u201d Spruell said. \u201cMost individuals are asleep at that time of morning. To constantly walk in on sleeping individuals makes them very cranky. Mr. Begay was no longer on watch and did not require half-hour checks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Citing instructions from Spruell, a spokesperson for the Colorado Bureau of Investigations said that they were unable to release additional information about its probe into Begay\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
According to a sheriff\u2019s office report, Dr. Robert Kurtzman conducted Begay\u2019s autopsy on Oct. 30. Kurtzman\u2019s Loma-based business office is listed as Rocky Mountain Forensic Services.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the course of the autopsy, Dr. Kurtzman advised that H. Begay did not suffer any physical trauma that led to his death,\u201d sheriff\u2019s detective Tyson Cox said in a supplemental report.<\/p>\n
Citing there was \u201cnothing extraordinary\u201d about his examination of Begay, Kurtzman declined to comment, referring all questions to coroner Rosenbaugh.<\/p>\n