Officials ID the second inmate in Hennepin County jail to die in 9-day span

Officials on Wednesday identified the inmate who died a day earlier in the Hennepin County jail.

The 36-year-old man was found unresponsive in his jail bed "following an apparent medical incident" and pronounced dead at HCMC, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office identified the man as Larry Ramone Hill, of Minneapolis, and said he died Tuesday morning.

The jail log shows that Hill was booked into the jail on May 26, 2023, on suspicion of selling illicit drugs. He also had two cases pending in court, one alleging the same offense and another accusing him of punching a Hennepin County jail detention deputy.

Hill's death is the second to occur in the jail a nine-day span. On Sept. 18, 21-year-old Oscar D. Rodriguez-Corona died after what the Sheriff's Office also called "a medical incident." Rodriguez-Corona, of Burnsville, was arrested by police in Minneapolis and booked into the jail on Sept. 9 on a charge of first-degree robbery and suspicion of receiving or concealing stolen property, according to jail records.

In the latest incident, the Sheriff's Office said medical aid was immediately rendered by staff, paramedics and fire department personnel. That aid continued while he was being transported to the hospital.

The Sheriff's Office said Hill's cause and manner of death will be released by the Medical Examiner's Office.

Sheriff Dawanna Witt said in a statement, "I appreciate the consideration and professionalism that was shown by our staff and partners who responded to assist with the incident."

Elsewhere in Minnesota, 54-year-old Shannon Lee Cook was pronounced dead Saturday morning at the Crow Wing County jail in Brainerd, that Sheriff's Office said. Deputies checked on a reported medical incident about 8:45 a.m. and found the woman unresponsive in her bunk, a Sheriff's Office statement read. Autopsy results are pending.