SO MANY PRISONS –
June 20, 2022 – A man has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter after an inmate died of a drug overdose from drugs that the man smuggled into the jail, according to the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, 23-year-old Cory Cantrell, an inmate of the Scioto County Jail, was found Saturday unresponsive and was later pronounced dead after being transported to the Southern Ohio Medical Center.
An investigation into Cantrell’s death revealed that he overdosed on drugs, believed to be fentanyl, brought in by Perry Steele, 43, who was in jail after being arrested by the Portsmouth Police Department on Saturday on a disorderly conduct intoxication charge, the sheriff’s office said. SCSO states that Steele was placed in a holding cell with three other inmates, including Cantrell, where he brought them the drugs before being bonded out of jail.
Steele was re-arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and numerous drug-related felonies. He is scheduled to appear in Portsmouth Municipal Court on Tuesday.
