NEWPORT – Investigators announced Monday that a 53-year-old Lincoln County jail inmate found dead in his cell Dec. 22 died of natural causes related to a chronic medical condition.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said last week that Steven P. Riley of Lincoln City was found unresponsive in his single-occupant cell about 11:45 a.m. Dec. 22 during routine meal service. Jail commander Lt. Jamie Russell said staff immediately began CPR, administered a defibrillator and called paramedics, who pronounced Riley dead. Russell said that jail deputies completed routine welfare checks approximately 26 minutes prior to finding Riley.
Riley’s death investigation was handled by Newport police, who said Monday they talked with other inmates, corrections officers, looked at surveillance video and received autopsy results from the state medical examiner.
Police said all the information “indicate that Riley’s death was not related to any suspicious activity and Riley died of natural causes that were a result of a chronic medical condition that was unreported to jail staff and, possibly, unknown to Mr. Riley.”
Riley was in jail on a Lincoln County Circuit Court warrant for probation violation and failing to appear on a charge of recklessly endangering and driving under the influence of intoxicants.
