Inmate killed in cell died of heart disease, cellmate attack

CLEVELAND (AP) — The death of a Cuyahoga County Jail inmate who was killed in his cell last year has been ruled a homicide, authorities announced Friday.

The county medical examiner determined that Shone Trawick, 48, died from a combination of an attack by a cellmate and heart disease.

Trawick was serving six months in jail on misdemeanor charges when he was killed Nov. 9. His cellmate, 31-year-old Edmond Hightower, has been indicted on murder charges in Trawick’s death.

A judge last month ordered Hightower, who was jailed on felonious assault and obstruction charges at the time of the attack, to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Trawick’s family filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against officials responsible for the county jail in Cleveland. They say the attack was unprovoked and corrections officers should have isolated Hightower from the jail’s general population because of his history of violence and inmate attacks.

Hightower spent three years in a psychiatric institute after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in January 2017 on a weapons charge, court records show.

A county spokesperson declined to comment about the lawsuit.