Woman dies at Santa Rita Jail after being sent back from hospital
FILE ART - Alameda County sheriff's deputies walk alongside incarcerated men at Santa Rita Jail. Aug. 22, 2023
DUBLIN, Calif. - A 37-year-old Oakland woman died Friday at Santa Rita Jail after a trip to the hospital the day before, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
What we know:
Kenyonna Farr was found unresponsive in her cell at 3:42 a.m. during a general observation check, Sgt. Roberto Morales said. Staff tried to save her, but she died about 30 minutes later, he said.
The day before, Farr was supposed to head to court. She was taken to the intake area of the jail and was found unresponsive at 7:20 a.m. on Thursday in her assigned holding cell, Morales said.
She didn't go to court, but was instead taken to the hospital, Morales said.
She was cleared at the hospital for returning to Santa Rita Jail.
What we don't know:
It's not clear how Farr died.
Morales did not describe what "unresponsive" meant in detail, or what would have caused Farr to be in that lifeless state twice in two days. He also didn't know the details of the hospital visit, and why she was cleared to return to jail.
He said the autopsy and toxicology reports will yield better answers.
The backstory:
Farr had only been at Santa Rita Jail for three days. According to Morales, she had been arrested by the Oakland Police Department for a court order violation, which was not laid out in detail.
However, news reports from 2019 indicate that Farr was sentenced in federal court to seven and a half years in prison with a term of supervised release of three years for two counts of bank robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition. She helped her boyfriend rob two Bay Area banks. She also was charged with bank robberies in 2010, according to news reports.
Big picture view:
Farr is the first in-custody death in 2026. She is the 76th in-custody death at Santa Rita Jail since 2014.