ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Department of Public Safety is reporting the death of a detainee Sunday morning at the city’s Justice Center.

A corrections officer noticed the detainee was unconscious at approximately 6:09 a.m. and called for medical assistance, according to a DPS spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the detainee’s death appeared to be the result of a suicide attempt. An investigation is underway.

The CJC has been the focus of scrutiny, resulting in the creation of the Detention Facilities Oversight Board. That board has been seeking greater access to the facility and those involved with the care of detainees.

Rev. Darryl Gray is chair of the oversight board. When asked for his reaction to Sunday’s death, he expressed the board’s condolences to the family of the detainee. The identity of the detainee has not yet been released.

The board was recently granted some access to the facility but not the full access it’s been seeking.

Gray said it’s too soon to know what happened in this case but will be seeking answers, such as whether the detainee, who was found in his cell, was on suicide watch. Gray also wants to know what policies and procedures are in place in those situations.

“Did the Justice Center do everything that it was supposed to do to protect this person?” he said.

Gray said there have been 11 deaths at the jail during an approximately two-year span. Gray and the oversight board have been seeking greater access to the jail’s medical provider and staff.

“We’re very clear about who we want to talk to and why we want to talk to them,” said Gray. “It hasn’t happened.”

A spokesperson for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said the office could not comment on the death because there is an investigation. The spokesperson said the city did transition to a new medical provider on December 1 and is in the process of hiring a Chief Medical Officer in the CJC, under the Department of Health, who will provide additional support, audits, and oversight of medical services.