Female Inmate Dies at Jail

A San Lorenzo Valley woman incarcerated in the Santa Cruz County Jail died Saturday, the Sheriff's Office reported.

Christy Ann Sanders, 27, was serving a 60-day sentence for a probation violation at the Main Jail in Santa Cruz when another inmate reported she had stopped breathing around 9 a.m. Saturday, Sgt. Steve Carney said.

Jail staff and paramedics worked to revive her, but their efforts were not successful.

Neither suicide nor foul play is suspected, Carney said.

"By all accounts there's no foul play found, there's no trauma," he said, adding that Sanders' death is likely due to a medical condition or natural causes.

An autopsy is planned.

Carney said jail staff completes checks on inmates at least every hour and had looked in on the area where Sanders was held just 8 minutes before she stopped breathing.

Sanders was assigned to the general population, meaning she shared a dorm-like area with several women and was not confined to a cell, Carney said.

Sanders had been booked into County Jail on Aug. 12 and was scheduled to be released Sept. 9, Carney said.

Jail deaths are rare in the Santa Cruz County jail facilities. Carney said he could think of just two in the past five years; both of those were suicides, he said.

The county jail facilities are managed by the Sheriff's Office. They include Main Jail on Water Street in Santa Cruz—where Sanders was held—as well as the Blaine Street low-security women's facility in Santa Cruz and Rountree, a low-security men's facility outside Watsonville.