Jail stay turns deadly

An autopsy is pending for John Carlton Skinner, a 44-year-old Oroville resident who died after a fall in the Butte County Jail.

Skinner was arrested and booked on a charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance around 4:30 a.m. Sunday (July 3). According to a press release from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, he was checked by medical personnel before being placed into a sobering cell. Once inside, he stood up on a concrete wall intended to provide privacy for inmates using the toilet and fell, landing on his face and knocking himself unconscious. He received first aid from correctional officers, who had summoned medical personnel.

Skinner was transported to Oroville Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 6 a.m.