LOS ANGELES — Three Los Angeles County inmates died in an nine-day period this month, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, a grim milestone that comes even as the county is facing scrutiny in court for using a cash bail system that can keep poor people behind bars.
The youngest of the men who died in March — 29-year-old Samuel Mark — was being held on misdemeanor charges for check fraud and theft, according to court records. He died Thursday morning at Men's Central Jail, three days after his arrest. Like the others who died this month, he had not yet been sentenced for a crime.
The Sheriff's Department has not released the names of the other two men who died.
