DUBLIN, Calif. – A 44-year-old Oakland murder suspect suffered a seizure at Santa Rita Jail and then died days later while using the restroom of a cell, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office \u2013 the second in-custody death at the facility in a week.<\/p>\n
\u2018Medical emergency\u2019\u00a0 <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
Jeffrey Bryce McMaster died on June 6: He had told deputies he needed to use the restroom of the outpatient housing unit. While he was there, deputies heard a noise coming from the cell. When deputies opened the door, they saw McMaster on the floor experiencing what the sheriff’s office described as a medical emergency.<\/p>\n
Staff tried to save McMaster, but he was pronounced dead at about 12:45 p.m., the sheriff’s office said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the day he died, he had only returned from the hospital an hour prior, according to the sheriff’s office.<\/p>\n
McMaster had recently been cleared to return to Santa Rita Jail from a local hospital after suffering some type of seizure on May 28 in his own cell, the sheriff’s office said.<\/p>\n
McMaster had been at Santa Rita Jail since Feb. 3. Oakland police had booked him on a charge of murder. The East Bay Times<\/a> reported he was charged in connection with the deadly beating of Leslie Marshall, 49, of Oakland, at a residential hotel in the 2300 block of San Pablo Avenue in Oakland the day before. McMaster and Marshall both lived at the facility.<\/p>\n \u00a0The official cause of death will be determined by the forensic pathologist following an autopsy and toxicology testing.<\/p>\n Other in-custody deaths <\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n On May 31, Brandon Anthony Josep Watson, 37, of San Francisco was found dead in his bunk. \u00a0<\/a>Deputies found him unresponsive in his cell when he failed to show up for breakfast. His cause of death is also being investigated.<\/p>\n A third person also died in custody this year at Santa Rita Jail. Kenyonna Farr, 37, died on March 13 <\/a>after she was found unresponsive in her cell. Her cause of death also hasn’t been determined.<\/p>\n A total of 78 people have died in Santa Rita Jail since 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n