Fewer people die in Leon County jail on average than nationally

Five inmates died at the Leon County Detention Facility in 2025, which the county says is well below the national mortality rate in local jails.

A status report on recent inmate deaths at the jail was compiled for county commissioners' review. Of those, two were due to natural causes, two were due to accidental drug overdoses and one was an accidental death involving "self-inflicted head trauma and related medical complications," according to county commission agenda materials.

"These causes generally align with the most recent national data for local jails, which shows that inmate deaths most commonly involve illness or natural causes, overdose or intoxication, and suicide or self-harm," the agenda says.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the national mortality rate for jails in roughly 0.17%. The Leon County jail's rate was 0.07% last year - less than half nationally.

Illness is the cause of the most jail deaths, as many inmates enter the system with pre-existing conditions, mental health issues or substance abuse issues, according to the agenda item.

Jail deaths include overdoses, medical decline

• The first death recorded last year, on Jan. 17, 2025, was due to an accidental overdose. Nicholas Shoemaker, 36, was found unresponsive in his cell and transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
• Nearly a month later, on Feb. 24, 2025, an unidentified 26-year-old woman died due to self-inflicted head trauma. County agenda materials say the woman was in the jail's medical unit and "engaging in self-injurious behavior, including banging her head." To prevent her from banging her head further, she was put into a restraint chair and started vomiting. She later died at a local hospital; excessive brain swelling was found to be the cause of death.

• In the summer, on June 19, 2025, Andrew Wiley, the father accused of killing his 12-year-old daughter Lori Paige, who went missing in 2023, died in his cell. An autopsy determined he suffered from a pulmonary embolism, according to the agenda item.
• On Sept. 29, 2025, Richard Schwartz, 72, passed away in the jail's hospice unit due to Stage IV throat cancer. He was the first patient to receive care through LCSO's Inmate Comfort Care Program.
• Less than a week later, on Oct. 4, 2025, Jesse Wampler, 46, was found unresponsive in his cell due to an accidental overdose. The day before, he was taken to the hospital after having a medical emergency after being arrested in possession of drugs.

While commissioners hailed the transparency of the sheriff's office and its care for inmates, one of those cases didn't sit well with Commissioner Bill Proctor.

"That concerns me ... self-inflicted head trauma. I'm not happy about that at all. That this is just so flaky, 26-years-old, someone hitting themselves in the head and we quietly say the grace and move on."

Commissioner Carolyn Cummings and Commissioner Rick Minor, however, were "encouraged" by the overall process of how LCSO works to screen inmates and minimize jail deaths.

"Our Sheriff's Office and the folks at the detention facility, I believe, are doing a good job," he said.

Proctor asked if there were additional steps the county could take to keep inmates in custody safe, but the county attorney said commissioners don't have the constitutional authority to direct sheriff's office operations.

What happens when an inmate dies in the Leon County jail?

Once an inmate's death is confirmed, the Leon County Sheriff's Office's Criminal Investigations Bureau and internal affairs office is notified. They begin by reaching out to the inmate's next of kin and launch an investigation into the death, "regardless of the cause or whether the death was imminent," according to the agenda item.

Detectives are tasked with determining the cause and manner of death, sequences of events leading to the death and whether anyone's actions constitute a crime. Separately, LCSO's internal affairs office launches its own administrative investigation "to assess whether personnel complied with applicable policies and procedures and if any corrective actions are needed," according to the agenda.

The findings from these reports help determine if policies, training, equipment and more are meeting the standard.

"Several years ago, following an inmate suicide, several safety-related capital improvements were identified and implemented through county-supported maintenance," the agenda says. "Examples include the replacement of certain cell bunks and furnishings with suicide-resistant furniture designed to reduce opportunities for self-harm."

Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Fewer people die in Leon County jail on average than nationally

Reporting by Elena Barrera, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 9:48 AM.