Fourth Cook County Jail Inmate Dies After Testing Positive For Coronavirus
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A fourth Cook County Jail inmate has died after testing positive for coronavirus, the Cook County Sheriff's office said Sunday night.
Karl Battiste, 64, was pronounced dead on Sunday at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, the Sheriff's office said. He had been hospitalized since Tuesday and had tested positive for COVID-19, but the official cause of his death was not known Sunday night.
Battiste was booked into the jail on Jan. 15 and was ordered held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder, the Sheriff's office said.
He was accused of shooting and killing a man on Jan. 19 during a quarrel outside an apartment complex in the 7900 block of South Kingston Avenue in the South Chicago community.
Battiste's criminal history goes back more than 40 years, and includes convictions for voluntary manslaughter, armed robbery, robbery and domestic battery, the Sheriff's office said.
Battiste was the fourth Cook County Jail inmate to die after testing positive for COVID-19.
Leslie Pieroni, 51, was pronounced dead Thursday evening at St. Anthony's Hospital, according to the Cook County Sheriff's office.
He had been hospitalized since Friday of last week after testing positive for COVID-19, the Sheriff's office said.
The first inmate to die, Jeffrey Pendleton, 59, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital of Cook County at 9:49 p.m. Sunday, April 5.
A third inmate, Nicholas Lee, 42, was pronounced dead Sunday morning at Stroger Hospital of Cook County after also testing positive for coronavirus.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, there were 194 inmates with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms being treated at Cermak Health Services on the jail campus, and 21 more being treated at local hospitals.
There are also 180 inmates previously diagnosed with COVID-19 who are now in recovery.
