Birmingham says two city-jail deaths remain under investigation; preliminary reviews find no foul play
The City of Birmingham said two recent deaths at the Birmingham City Jail remain under investigation, with preliminary medical and investigative reviews indicating no foul play.
Deputy Chief of Public Safety Carlton L. Peeples issued the follow-up statement June 24. The city said laboratory testing, medical reviews and the broader investigations were continuing, so the preliminary assessment is not a final conclusion about either death.
The statement did not name the people who died or provide causes of death. It also did not identify final medical examiner findings.
City outlines procedures for detainees in crisis
Alongside the update on the deaths, the city described procedures for detainees who express suicidal thoughts or attempt self-harm at the Birmingham Police Department detention facility.
Under those procedures, the city said detainees are evaluated by medical staff and transported to UAB Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. For a detainee who survives a suicide attempt, the city said the person is to be monitored every 15 minutes in administrative segregation after returning from the hospital.
The statement did not say that either death was a suicide, nor did it establish whether any of the procedures described caused or prevented either death.
Different housing and medical statuses described
The city said one of the deceased people was under suicide-prevention protocols and housed in administrative segregation. According to the statement, the other person had received a medical evaluation and returned to the jail’s general population.
The city also said separate accommodations were provided April 21, 2026, after one of the deceased people identified as transgender. The statement did not provide further details about those accommodations or connect them to a cause of death.
The update places the two deaths within the city’s stated custodial-safety procedures, including medical assessment, psychiatric evaluation, housing decisions and monitoring. But the city’s preliminary no-foul-play finding remains subject to the laboratory testing, medical reviews and investigations that officials said were still underway.
What comes next
No timetable for completing the reviews was included in the statement, and the packet does not identify a court proceeding, criminal charge or external-investigation deadline. The next known step is completion of the ongoing investigations, laboratory testing and medical reviews cited by the city.
Until those processes are complete, the city’s statement provides a preliminary official account rather than a final determination of the circumstances or causes of the two deaths in custody.