As the state Attorney General's Office continues its assessment into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man who was being held at the Cayuga County Jail, the sheriff said his staff tried to resuscitate the man after he was found unconscious.
Sheriff Brian Schenck on Thursday said that Fred Williams, 35, of 1052 Lake Como Road, Summerhill, was found unresponsive during routine rounds on Nov. 24. He said that staff immediately began resuscitation measures and that Williams was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he died the following day.
Schenck said the sheriff鈥檚 office immediately contacted the state Attorney General鈥檚 Office of Special Investigation to investigate the incident because state law mandates that the AG鈥檚 office investigates any incident involving the death of a person while in the custody of a police or peace officer.
A spokesperson for the AG's office said in November that while the office would conduct a "preliminary assessment" of the incident, it would not necessarily open an investigation.
The Office of Special Investigation looks into incidents "where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person, by an act or omission." A full investigation, therefore, is only opened if an assessment indicates an officer caused the death.
The AG's office on Thursday said that the "preliminary assessment of the incident remains ongoing."
Schenck said while an internal investigation would also be conducted by members of the sheriff鈥檚 office, releasing any details of that investigation would have to wait until the AG's office decides upon its course of action.
Schenck said that Williams was being held at the jail on a state parole violation and a pending new charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
