Beaverton man dies in Marion County Jail
A Beaverton man died Thursday afternoon in the Marion County Jail, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
In a news release Thursday night, the sheriff’s office identified the man as Jose Soto-Araujo, 54.
Soto-Araujo was found unresponsive in his cell just after 3:37 p.m. on Thursday. The sheriff’s office, which operates the jail, did not clarify in its statement who found him.
“Despite immediate efforts by deputies and medical staff to administer CPR and call for additional emergency personnel, their lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, and Mr. Soto-Araujo was pronounced deceased,” according to the statement.
The agency said authorities were still investigating the cause and manner of Soto-Araujo’s death and that it would not release any additional information.
“Our deepest condolences go to Mr. Soto-Araujo’s family,” the agency said.
The Oregon State Police is investigating the death as an outside agency, as required under the sheriff’s office policy.
State court records showed Soto-Araujo was being held in jail on a pending charge of assaulting a public safety officer. He was scheduled to appear in court Friday morning for a plea hearing.
His death comes three months after another person, Adam Mansour, 40, died in custody at the jail on March 25, 2025. Authorities at the time issued a generic statement about Mansour’s death but have since provided no information, including the cause and manner of his death.
Those deaths are the first in the jail since a Hillsboro man, Will Schultz, fatally overdosed on fentanyl in November 2022.
The sheriff’s office has reported the deaths of eight other Marion County Jail inmates while in custody since the start of 2021. Of those, three died in the jail, according to Sgt. Jeremy Schwab, sheriff’s office spokesman.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety 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.
