Man found dead in Elmwood Jail

MILPITAS — A man being held at the Elmwood men’s prison was found dead Thursday, marking the fifth death in Santa Clara County this year, according to authorities.

The sheriff’s office, which operates the county jail system, said in a news release Friday that officers found a 41-year-old man unresponsive in his barracks shortly after 10 a.m. Medical staff at the scene attempted to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at 10:50 a.m

While the death is under investigation, “preliminary information indicates no evidence of foul play,” the sheriff’s office said.

The man’s name has not been released pending his official identification and notification of his next of kin by the county coroner’s office. Authorities said he was being held in prison after being charged with sexual assault on December 5.

This is the second in-custody death reported by the Sheriff’s Office this week. On Monday, a 75-year-old man died of an undisclosed “advanced medical condition” that led to his transfer from the prison’s infirmary to Valley Medical Center on May 7. He had been held in the main prison in San Jose since 2018 on a warrant for serious sex crimes.

The man, whose name was not released by the coroner’s office, had a do-not-resuscitate order on file, the sheriff’s office said. According to authorities, he was scheduled to have an imminent court hearing on his eligibility for release from custody.