The San Diego Sheriff’s Office Saturday released the name of a 34-year-old man who died last week after apparently attempting to kill himself inside his cell at San Diego Central Jail.
Officials identified the man as Grant Parker, who had been arrested last month on suspicion of murder. Police said he stabbed 41-year-old Mark Thomas outside the Hotel Churchill in downtown San Diego.
Parker, who had a history of mental illness and suicide attempts, was discovered hanging inside his cell last Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies tried reviving him and called paramedics, who also treated the defendant.
He was transported to a nearby hospital and died from his injuries on March 10, officials said.
While Parker was scheduled to face trial for the alleged murder of Thomas, court records show he had previously been found incompetent to stand trial in an earlier case. He was sent to a state hospital for treatment and involuntarily placed on medication.
“If the defendant’s mental disorder is not treated with anti-psychotic medication, it is possible that serious harm to the physical or mental health of the patient will result,” the court stated.
Parker was the second person to die in sheriff’s custody this year, and the first apparent suicide in more than two years. San Diego County has a lengthy history of jail deaths, although the rate has declined in recent years under Sheriff Kelly Martinez.
More than 150 people have died in local jails since over the past 10 years, sheriff’s records show. Thirty-four people have died in sheriff’s custody since 2023, when Martinez was sworn in as sheriff.
It remains unclear specifically how Parker died; the Sheriff’s Office news release says he was found hanging in his cell.
A 2018 investigation by Disability Rights California into what was then a high suicide rate in San Diego County jails urged the sheriff to remove tie-off points that people use in hanging attempts.
“Eight inmates died by hanging from December 2014 through 2016,” the report said. “In all of these cases, ligatures were attached to ventilation grills or looped around beds that hd a separation from the cell wall.”
The Sheriff’s Office committed to removing tie-off points from its jails but has not yet completed those renovations.