Second Los Angeles inmate dies in custody in as many days

LOS ANGELES – For the second time in as many days, a Los Angeles County jail inmate has died while in custody.

The sheriff’s department says the man died Wednesday night at the county’s inmate reception centre in downtown Los Angeles.

Homicide detectives were sent to the scene to investigate. The sheriff’s department wouldn’t release any other details.

Another inmate died Tuesday at the Men’s Central Jail, just across the street from the reception centre.

Sheriff’s officials say that man had been yelling and was assaulting his cellmate when a deputy ordered him to stop. They say the inmate refused and a deputy shot him with pepper spray.

The man lost consciousness while he was being decontaminated. Deputies and a jail nurse tried to perform CPR but he was pronounced dead in the jail.