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Video shows moments before Maricopa County inmate death

PHOENIX — This is the video Ricci Delk didn’t want to see, but felt he needed.

“I have no regrets. I need to know,” Derk said.

On Tuesday morning she received two DVDs provided by the government. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office It shows the day her son, Adam Delk, died in prison at Phoenix’s 4th Street Penitentiary.

“It’s very painful and heartbreaking,” said Rich Delk after watching the video.

Adam Delk is one of at least 95 inmates who have died in MCSO custody since 2020. The death toll will reach 43 in 2022, with at least seven deaths so far this year.

At a recent press conference, Sheriff Paul Penzone noted the increase and said the fentanyl crisis was a big factor in these deaths.

Adam Delk passed away in mid-February. At this time, his cause of death has not been made public.

Surveillance video obtained by Ricci Delk was provided to 12News.

Both videos show the point of view of multiple security cameras inside the prison as well as videos taken by the sheriff’s deputy that day.

According to the video’s timecode, around 10:55 am, Adam Delk can be seen standing in his cell. Then a minute later, we see his cellmate banging on his cell door asking for help.

Two minutes later, a deputy arrives and takes out the other inmates. Then wait for medical personnel to arrive. By 11:02 am, these workers were working on Adam Delk in the cell.

The video shows delegates and the Maricopa County Correctional Health Service administering Narcan, CPR, and at least two doses of automated external defibrillator to Adam Derk for the next approximately 15 minutes. They put him on a stretcher and start taking him to jail.

Then, just before 11:14 a.m., video shows him being carried out to Phoenix firefighters who begin CPR. By 11:27 a.m. he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital.

At the same press conference regarding the death of the inmate, Penzone said Adam Delk died about 20 minutes later in the hospital.

“I feel sorry for his mother, who I know is in pain,” Penzone said.

Ricci Delk knows what the MCSO did to save his son, but wonders if they could have done something else.

“Could they have done more? I believe they could,” she said.

12News spoke with an MCSO spokesperson about response times. They said there is no average time as each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis.

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