Three people have died while in custody at the DC Jail this month—in the span of about two weeks. A fourth person, Anthony McDonald, died while in the D.C. Department of Corrections’ custody in February, according to a notice from the agency.

Sheena Weatherspoon, 39, was found unresponsive in her cell on Saturday, May 11, at 1:05 p.m., according to the DOC. The Takoma Park resident was pronounced dead at 1:53 p.m. after DOC staff and medical personnel attempted lifesaving measures. She had been housed in a medical unit in the jail’s Central Treatment Facility, according to the DOC. She was held in the jail on fugitive from justice charges out of Virginia. Efforts to reach Weatherspoon’s family have been unsuccessful.

Sincere Howard, 23, was also found unresponsive in his cell in CTF. DOC “security personnel” found Howard on May 16 at 8:13 a.m. DC Fire and EMS arrived to help DOC staff attempt to revive Howard, but he was pronounced dead at 8:35 a.m., according to the DOC. Howard was indicted for kidnapping and cyberstalking in 2021 for an incident that he and a co-defendant broadcast live on Instagram, according to court records. The case has lingered in the system since then as psychologists worked to determine whether Howard was competent to stand trial. A little more than a month before Howard’s death, the judge ruled that he was competent.

Dominique Brown, 22, was found unresponsive in his cell on Friday, May 24 at 9:56 a.m., according to the DOC. He was being held in the jail’s Central Detention Facility. Jail staff and DC FEMS attempted lifesaving measures, the department says in an official notice, but Brown was pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m. that day. He was charged with first-degree murder in the 2022 shooting death of 30-year-old Deshaun Cupid; Brown, also identified as Brown-Young, pleaded not guilty. Police found Cupid shot inside her vehicle in the 1800 block of Benning Road NE. Two young children, ages 2 and 1, were unharmed in the back seat, according to court records.

McDonald, 35, was also found unresponsive in his cell in the jail’s CDF on Feb. 16 at 3:22 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 3:53 p.m. after medical staff and DC FEMS attempted lifesaving measures, according to an official notice from the DOC. McDonald was held on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and drugs. D.C. police initially approached McDonald in September 2023 when they suspected him of smoking weed in a car parked in the 4400 block of Hayes Street NE, according to court records.

The police affidavit filed in court says McDonald swallowed what officers believed was a blunt when they confronted him. Officers claim that they then found a firearm on the floorboard and drugs on the passenger seat. Reached by phone Wednesday morning, McDonald’s attorney declined to comment.

DOC spokesperson Setareh Yelle says each of the deaths are under investigation by the DOC’s Office of Investigative Services and the Metropolitan Police Department. The chief medical examiner will determine a cause and manner of death. Yelle could not immediately provide further details, including whether the three deaths this month are linked in any way.

Roy Tatum, 47, died in the DC Jail in January after he was found unresponsive in his cell. Five people have died in DOC custody so far this year. Another five people died in the DC Jail in 2023; and eight people died in DOC custody in 2022.

This story is developing and will be updated as we learn more information.