Two Spokane County Jail inmates die within an hour of each other; overdoses suspected

Drug overdoses are suspected in the Monday deaths of two Spokane County Jail inmates, according to the county government’s spokesperson.

Officials are investigating the deaths and how drugs were obtained while incarcerated, said Pat Bell, director of communications for Spokane County. The two men were housed in separate wings of the detention facility. The deaths occurred within an hour of each other.

Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, Bell said.

While overdose is suspected in both deaths, county spokeswoman Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter said one of the men, who was booked on Dec. 7, also had “something different” at play.

The other man who died in the incident was booked into the Spokane County Jail on Sunday.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, Wheatley-Billeter said.

A third inmate, a woman booked on Dec. 10, also overdosed but survived .

Wheatley-Billeter said she could not confirm what substance may have been involved in the Monday overdoses.

Another medical event at the jail Monday happened when a man detained on Dec. 11 suffered a “cardiac incident.” The inmate is expected to make a recovery, Wheatley-Billeter said.

The deaths come a week after six Kootenai County Jail inmates were hospitalized after exhibiting signs of a fentanyl overdose in a single night. Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office officials told The Spokesman-Review that they suspect the inmates received the narcotic via mail packages.

The inmates in the Idaho incident survived and were later returned to the detention facility.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause of death and release the identities of the deceased men.

Spokane County Detention Services has deployed the opioid overdose reversal medication Naloxone Hydrochloride, also called Narcan, 38 times this year, Bell said. The department has needed to hospitalize 35 inmates because of apparent overdose signs in 2025.