Murder Suspect Dies After Medical Emergency at Santa Rita Jail

Overview

• Jeffrey Bryce McMaster, 44, an Oakland man booked on a murder charge on Feb. 3, was found unresponsive in a restroom cell and pronounced dead about 12:45 p.m. on June 6 after deputies heard a noise and opened the door.
• Deputies had earlier found McMaster having an apparent seizure on May 28, emergency staff took him to a hospital, and he was medically cleared to return to Santa Rita days before his June 6 collapse.
• The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said jail staff and emergency personnel attempted life‑saving measures and that a forensic pathologist will set the official cause after autopsy and toxicology testing.
• McMaster’s death is the second in one week at Santa Rita Jail following a May 31 in-custody death and is the third death at the facility this year in a facility that has recorded 78 deaths since 2014.
• The cluster of recent in-custody deaths is likely to increase oversight and public scrutiny of jail medical care and operations as investigators and prosecutors review procedures and results.