Two men die within a day of each other in Cook County Jail, one was beaten to death, officials say

Two Cook County Jail detainees died this week, one of whom was beaten to death, officials said.

The suspicious death, which was ruled a homicide, happened about 5:10 p.m. Thursday, after a correctional officer found Marvell Reasonover, 28, unresponsive in his cell in Division 9, a maximum security section at the jail, according to a statement from the Cook County sheriff’s department and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Reasonover’s cellmate was escorted out of the cell and “secured,” the statement said.

A Friday autopsy determined Reasonover died of multiple injuries from an assault, according to the medical examiner’s office, which said Reasonover was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Reasonover was ordered held in custody at the jail Dec. 12, 2020, for aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm charge. Reasonover also was being held on $100,000 D-bond for charges including: armed habitual criminal, felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon, the statement said.

Reasonover’s convictions included receiving or possessing a stolen vehicle and burglary.

Another jail death occurred Friday morning, when Melvin Turner, 35, was found in his bed in the jail’s residential treatment unit, according to an earlier statement released by the sheriff’s office.

Turner, of Carol Stream, was previously placed on electronic monitoring in February after charges of retail theft but was re-incarcerated at Cook County Jail late Thursday night after his housing site refused him when he was discharged from Jackson Park Hospital, according to the earlier statement.

Once discharged from Jackson Park, sheriff’s electronic monitoring unit investigators took Turner to the jail, where he was evaluated by Cermak Health Services staff before he was placed in the RTU.

Turner’s autopsy was inconclusive and pending further studies, according to the medical examiner’s office.