A 33-year-old Beaverton man died in Marion County Jail on Nov. 23 after he was found unresponsive in his cell, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office made the announcement a week after William Schultz died, and two days after Salem Reporter first asked for information about the death.
The agency provided little information about the incident in in its public statement and said the cause and manner of Schultz’s death was still under investigation.
At 7 p.m. on Nov. 23, Schultz’s cellmate found him unresponsive in his cell and alerted deputies, the agency said in its statement.
Deputies and medical staff at the jail started performing CPR, requested an ambulance and continued until it arrived.
“Ambulance personnel took over and continued life saving measures of Mr. Schultz, for a considerable amount of time and effort however he was pronounced deceased,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death as an outside law enforcement agency as required under Marion County Sheriff’s Office policy. The sheriff’s office must operate the jail under state law.
A Marion County grand jury indicted Schultz Sept. 8 on charges of possessing a firearm as a felon and unlawful possession of methamphetamine. He had been scheduled to enter plea Nov. 25, two days after his death.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
