Restrained inmate choked on own vomit

The Spokane County Medical Examiner determined that Lorenzo Hayes was high on methamphetamine when he died in the booking area of the Spokane County Jail in May. His cause of death was attributed to choking on vomit while restrained in a prone position due to methamphetamine toxicity. The medical examiner classified his death as a homicide. The death is under investigation by the Spokane Investigative Regional Response (SIRR) team. The Washington State Patrol is the lead agency. Hayes was brought to the jail by Spokane police officers, but Hayes was uncooperative and refused to get out of the car, said WSP Trooper Jeff Sevigney. “Basically he didn’t want to walk so jail staff carried him in,” he said. Once inside the booking area Hayes refused to stand. “They laid him down on the floor to frisk him,” he said. Hayes was still on the ground, handcuffed and yelling, while a jail nurse attempted to evaluate him, Sevigney said. Jail staff moved him to a restraint chair to allow the nurse to examine him better. Not long after that the staff noticed that Hayes was in medical distress and pulled him out of the chair to perform CPR, Sevigney said. There is a video surveillance camera in the booking area and SIRR investigators have a video of the incident, he said. Hayes was arrested early on May 13 on suspicion of violating a no-contact order and unlawful possession of a firearm after he was found outside the home of a woman he was not allowed to have contact with. He reportedly had a .22 rifle with him.