Inmate Killed Himself In Riverside County Jail Amid Mental Health Evaluations: Authorities

RIVERSIDE, CA — The Riverside County Sheriff's Department reported over the weekend that a 19-year-old inmate found unresponsive in his jail cell was a suicide victim.

Jail staff attempted to resuscitate Ezekiel Alexander Cuenca-Torres of Riverside after he was discovered unconscious on New Year's Day, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's department.

"There were no signs of foul play, and this incident appears to be a suicide," the sheriff's department reported.

Cuenca-Torres was housed at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

Cuenca-Torres was arrested just after 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 and booked early the next day, jail records show. He was undergoing an apparent mental-health crisis when he was taken into custody by Riverside police officers at University and Dwight avenues according to reporting from The Press-Enterprise.

A witness told the news outlet that she saw a man running down the middle of the street screaming and yelling, while others said they saw him jumping on vehicles.

Cuenca-Torres was later charged with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm upon a peace officer and firefighter, one count of resisting a peace officer, and aggravating factors of firing a peace officer's weapon and being armed during the commission of a crime, according to a charging document filed Dec. 19 in Riverside County Superior Court.

At Cuenca-Torres' arraignment, the court suspended criminal proceedings due to doubt of the defendant's mental competence. His case was sent to mental health court, and he was ordered to be seen by behavioral health twice a week, a spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said.

Cuenca-Torres' death follows another just days earlier at a different Riverside County lockup.

Quadir Boykin, 46, of Menifee, was pronounced dead shortly after 12:40 a.m. Dec. 29 at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, according to the sheriff's department.

Boykin had a long criminal history in Riverside County and was undergoing a mental health evaluation as part of the latest case against him, court records show. The sheriff's department did not disclose any information about the death except to say that foul play was not suspected. Read more: Inmate Undergoing Mental Health Evaluations Found Dead In Riverside County Jail

If you are struggling or know someone who is, contact the National Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. The hotline provides confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across the United States.