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Euclid man indicted for Cuyahoga County Jail cellmate's overdose death

The overdose happened in August of 2020.

CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a story published on December 1, 2020.

A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted 31-year-old Christopher Neal of Euclid for causing the overdose death of a 28-year-old cellmate, as well as other crimes he allegedly committed while a prisoner at the Cuyahoga County Jail.

On August 30, 2020, a corrections officer at the Cuyahoga County Jail found the victim unresponsive in a cell.  

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Jail medical personnel provided emergency services but the victim was pronounced dead by Cleveland EMS and transported to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office. After an autopsy was performed, the medical examiner ruled the victim died of a Fentanyl overdose.

On August 21, 2020, Neal was arrested on an outstanding warrant out of Euclid and was booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail where the prosecutor's office says he smuggled drugs inside. On August 30, 2020, officials say Neal provided the drugs to his cellmate which caused his cellmate's death. 

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Cuyahoga County Sheriff's deputies investigated the inmate's death and connected Neal to the crime.

Neal has been indicted on one count of Involuntary Manslaughter, one count of Corrupting Another With Drugs, one count of Illegal Conveyance Into a Detention Facility, one count of Tampering with Evidence, one count of Trafficking and one count of Drug Possession.

Neal is being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail for another pending drug case.  

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