Tribune photo illustration
Tribune photo illustration (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
 
By Lisa BlackTribune reporter
12:40 p.m. CDT, April 18, 2014
Lake County authorities are investigating the suicide of a jail inmate Friday morning, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are currently diligently investigating the circumstances surrounding this event,” a news release stated. “At this time, we cannot provide any further detail or identify the name of the inmate.”
A press conference will be scheduled for Friday, according to Sgt. Sara Balmes, who made the announcement.
The sheriff's office is already facing scrutiny for its handling of two Lake County Jail inmates who died in 2012.
Early this year, the county agreed to pay nearly $2 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of Eugene Gruber, who died several months after being paralyzed during an altercation with correctional officers at the jail.
A second federal lawsuit is pending, filed on behalf of a mentally ill woman, Lyvita Gomes, who died after refusing food and drink while incarcerated.
A special investigator hired by the county to review the Gruber and Gomes case said he expected to submit a report to Lake County officials this week that could recommend disciplinary action against jail employees. The investigator, attorney Terry Ekl, submitted an interim report last fall that resulted in some policy changes and the purchase of personal video cameras intended to capture confrontations with inmates, according to the sheriff's office.
lblack@tribune.com