Crime & Safety
Prisoner Leaps Five Stories to Death at Stateville
The 33-year-old man, who had just visited with his girlfriend, jumped from a fifth-story floor in cell house C, a state spokesman said.
An inmate at Stateville Correctional Center jumped five stories to his death Thursday, according to a statement released by the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Angel Garcia, 33, serving a 70-year term for murder in the Crest Hill prison, had just returned from an hour-long visit with his girlfriend at about 12:15 p.m. when he leaped from the fifth floor of cell house C, IDOC spokesman Tom Schaer said in the announcement.
Garcia sustained serious head trauma and other injuries and was taken to Presence St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead at 3:19 p.m.
He was not considered despondent and was not on a suicide watch, Schaer said.
Garcia, convicted in Cook County, was not due to be released on parole until 2079, when he would be 99 years old. He had previously spent time in prison for manufacture/delivery of cannabis, aggravated vehicular hijacking and residential burglary convictions, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
"The unfortunate actions and occurrences today did not jeopardize the safety or security of anyone but the descendent," Schaer said. "The Illinois Department of Corrections continues to gather information related to this death."
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