Stertz, 41, was in an isolation cell for medical reasons but wasn’t on suicide watch at the time of his death, Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said. A deputy in the jail was making checks on the fourth floor where Stertz’s isolation cell was located and noticed him slumped over and unresponsive on the floor by his cell door.
Deputies in the jail, medical staff and responding EMS from the Springfield Fire/Rescue Division administered CPR and used a defibrillator on Stertz. He was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center and then flown by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where he later died, deputies said.
Stertz’s brother, Bill Stertz, said his brother had been jailed at the Clark County Jail previously and had previously been on suicide watch at times. Bill Stertz was contacted by Clark County Sheriff’s Office detectives after his brother was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, he said.
This is the first suicide at the Clark County Jail in the past year, Kelly said.
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