By Greg Welter
Chico Enterprise-Record
WILLOWS, Calif. — A 19-year-old inmate was found dead inside a holding cell at the Glenn County Jail Saturday morning. He was identified as Shasta Lake resident Kenneth William Beck III.
Beck and his brother-in-law, Tyler Todd Sprickman, 22, were recently arrested together in Glenn County on a variety of drug charges.
Being treated for narcotics use, Beck was in a special area of the jail Saturday when corrections officers found him unresponsive on the floor.
Paramedics and Willows Fire Department personnel were called to the jail about 8:45 a.m., but life-saving attempts failed and he was pronounced dead.
Beck and Sprickman, a Redding resident, were in a vehicle stopped by the California Highway Patrol on Interstate 5 at Highway 162 on Feb. 20.
Drugs were reportedly found in the vehicle, and both men were arrested on multiple narcotics charges.
Bail for Sprickman has been set at $63,000. Beck’s bail had been set at $60,000.
In a press release, jail officials said Beck had been served breakfast about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, and displayed no medical issues when he was checked on at 7:40 a.m.
Foul play is not suspected to be a factor.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death.
The inmate’s mother was notified of his death at her home in Shasta Lake, and Sprickman, still in custody, was notified at the jail.
The death remains under investigation.
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