Va. jail deaths spur ACLU complaint

The ACLU of Virginia is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate conditions at the Richmond city jail following the deaths of two inmates.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Kerry Wayne Bennett, 49, was found unresponsive in his bunk about 4 a.m. June 30. His death at the jail, which has no air conditioning, came just days after inmate Grant R. Sleeper, 54, died of heat exposure.

Sleeper was taken to VCU hospital on June 18; he died there eight days later.

No cause of death has been released for Bennett.

There have been three heat-related deaths in Virginia this year, health officials said Tuesday. One was Sleeper. Another was a roofer. And a third person died in a home that was without air conditioning.