Inmate Died Of Natural Causes In Contra Costa Co.: Coroner’s Jury

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — A Contra Costa County coroner's jury has determined that a 65-year-old inmate at Martinez Detention Facility died of natural causes.

A sheriff's deputy working at the jail found Leartis Johnson of Antioch unresponsive in a single-person cell. Emergency workers tried to resuscitate him and rushed him to the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead on March 7.

Facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery, Johnson had been housed at the jail since May 2018 and was being kept in the facility's mental health module.

At the time of his death, Johnson's public defender Stephanie Regular said her client had been dealing with both physical and mental health issues.

Regular said Johnson had been returned to jail after spending time at a hospital. Regular was trying to get him back into the hospital when he died.

"I just don't see how they couldn't have seen how poorly he was doing," she said.

Regular said he shouldn't have been in jail in his condition.

Johnson had been found incompetent to stand trial, she said.

"I just hope that from this really tragic incident, there is a recognition that mentally ill people should not be in the jail, and more should be done to provide treatment as opposed to confinement," she said.

—Bay City News contributed to this report