Teen inmate dies in Chatham County, NC jail, sheriff’s office says
Jaimarien Rayshaun Sellers, 19, was found dead by his roommate at the Chatham County Detention Center in Pittsboro.
A 19-year-old inmate died overnight at the Chatham County Detention Center in Pittsboro, according to the county sheriff’s office.
His cause of death is unknown at this time.
Jaimarien Rayshaun Sellers’ roommate found Sellers unresponsive in their cell shortly after midnight Sunday, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. Sellers had previously “been observed sleeping in his cell during a routine periodic check,” the release said.
After Sellers’ roommate alerted detention officers that Sellers was unresponsive, officers entered the cell to administer CPR, the release said. The officers were unable to revive Sellers and contacted EMS.
The sheriff’s department is investigating the death and has requested an autopsy be performed by a medical examiner to determine Sellers’ cause of death, the release said. The department has also asked the State Bureau of Investigation to review the matter since Sellers died while in the custody of the sheriff’s department and “and no cause of death was immediately apparent,” the release said.
“Our hearts are with Mr. Sellers’ family in their time of loss,” Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson said in the release, “and we are doing everything we can to determine his cause of death.”
The sheriff’s office said Sellers had been in custody at the detention center since April 28 on six charges:
- Robbery with a dangerous weapon
- Second degree kidnapping
- Conspiracy to commit armed robbery
- Assault by pointing a gun
- Injury to personal property
- Hit and run leaving the scene
Sellers was being held under a $500,000 bond and was awaiting pre-trial release, the sheriff’s office said.
