A 27-year-old inmate at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Intake/Release Center in Santa Ana was found dead inside his cell, authorities said Tuesday.
The inmate was later identified as Danny Pham, according to the coroner’s office, which had no place of residence for Pham.
The discovery at the center, at 938 W. Sixth St., was made Monday when deputies were conducting meal distribution to the inmates, said Lt. Lane Lagaret of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
“The deputy started life-saving procedures and summoned the jail medical staff,” Lagaret said. “The jail medical staff and Orange County Fire Authority personnel responded to render aid. However, the inmate was pronounced dead at the jail by the Orange County Fire Authority.”
The OCSD did not release an approximate time of when Pham was found dead Monday. The coroner reported that Pham was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:35 a.m.
A criminal investigation was being conducted and homicide has not been ruled out, Lagaret said.
—City News Service