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Cleveland County investigates prisoner's death

Authorities said an inmate at a Cleveland County jail died at a nearby hospital on Sunday, apparently after attempting suicide.

At 11:55 p.m., 58-year-old Daniel Edward Freeman was pronounced dead at Norman Regional Hospital.

Authorities said Freeman was seen moving around his cell at 10 p.m. before the jail's lights out. Visual checks at 8:07 p.m. and 10:34 p.m. found nothing unusual in the jail, according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.

During a further visual check at 11:05 p.m., staff found Freeman unresponsive and immediately initiated life-saving measures. EMSA was called to the prison.

Freeman's official cause of death will be determined by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office.

The sheriff's office asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to assist in the investigation.

Prison authorities said Freeman was admitted to the facility on Aug. 22 after being arrested by Norman police on complaints of first-degree burglary, kidnapping and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Daniel Freeman's death is the latest incident at the Cleveland County Jail

Freeman's death is one of several recent deaths that have occurred at the Cleveland County Jail.

In May, 58-year-old Thomas Sanchez Pesina died at Norman Regional Hospital after being found unconscious.

Pesina was booked into prison on May 21, 2023, after being arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of drug paraphernalia, and public intoxication.

At a hearing in August 2023, he was declared incompetent to stand trial and awaited transfer to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita.

The center is the state's only facility for treating mentally incompetent defendants and has a long history of problems with capacity and wait times.

On April 19, 36-year-old William Kenneth Moore died at Norman Regional Hospital following a medical incident at the prison, according to prison officials.

In January, a federal lawsuit was filed against the sheriff's office, Turn Key Health Clinics and three medical professionals accused of contributing to the death of Shannon Hanchett, who died in jail on December 8, 2022.

Hanchett, 38, was affectionately known as the Cookie Queen for running a bakery in downtown Norman. She was arrested at an AT&T store on Nov. 26, 2022, on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements.

Upon her admission, Hanchett told prison staff that she suffered from bipolar disorder and lupus. According to the lawsuit, Hanchett was not evaluated by medical staff until 72 hours after she arrived at the prison and was not given any psychotropic medication.

Although medical staff reported that Hanchett was suicidal and severely dehydrated, prison guards regularly failed to conduct the 15-minute vision checks required by state law.

On December 7, 2022, prison staff found Hanchett unconscious on the floor of her prison cell. Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful and Hanchett was pronounced dead at approximately 1 a.m. on December 8.

Nearly two weeks later, on December 20, 66-year-old Kathryn Milano died in custody after suffering a medical emergency “related to pre-existing medical conditions,” according to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.

On February 25, 2023, the Detention Center announced that Joe Allen Sims Jr., 44, committed suicide in the detention facility.

Lawsuit over Shannon Hanchett's death dismissed

A state medical examiner's report concluded that Hanchett died of heart failure. Major contributing factors included psychosis with auditory and visual hallucinations and severe dehydration.

The lawsuit alleged that the contract between Turn Key Health Clinics and the Sheriff's Office prevented employees from seeking more urgent care.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones in federal court in Oklahoma City dismissed the lawsuit and gave plaintiff Daniel Hanchett, Shannon Hanchett's widower, 21 days to file an amended complaint.

In an order, Jones wrote: “The Court concludes that plaintiff has not pleaded sufficient facts to prove that any municipal employee acted with willful indifference toward Ms. Hanchett's health and safety.”

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