RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Authorities in Wake County say two detention officers who were on duty when an 18-year-old suspect in a man’s death was found unresponsive in his cell have been fired.
Sherriff Donnie Harrison told WRAL-TV in Raleigh (https://bit.ly/2orMpSW) that 42-year-old Jowanna Mitchell and 36-year-old Steven McKoy were fired for “conduct unbecoming” in the death of Jose Humberto Lara-Pineda.
Lara-Pineda was accused of killing a man near a Raleigh greenway and was placed in jail on March 21. Jail officials said Lara-Pineda was found unresponsive in his cell just before 6 p.m. on March 22, and was taken to Wake Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Harrison said neither of the officers’ actions was directly responsible for Lara-Pineda’s death, but it is possible they did not follow proper policies and procedures.
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