A 37-year-old Oakland man who was being held on a murder case has died at Santa Rita Jail after what authorities say is being investigated as a homicide. Alameda County sheriff’s officials said Elias Angel Rivera was fatally injured inside the jail’s maximum-security housing area and later died at a hospital early Tuesday.
According to KTVU’s reporting, Rivera’s cellmate hit the emergency call button shortly before midnight Monday to tell deputies Rivera had been injured. He was then taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:11 a.m. Tuesday. Officials said they did not immediately release details about how he was hurt or identify any suspect in the case.
The case is drawing extra attention because Rivera was already in custody on a serious pending charge. He had been arrested by the California Highway Patrol on May 21, 2022, on suspicion of murder after a wrong-way crash on Highway 24 that killed 30-year-old Heidi Gerrish of Tucson, Arizona, and injured three other people, according to the report. Court records cited by KTVU said Rivera had been driving on a suspended license following a DUI conviction and was also on probation at the time of that crash…