Charles Deonte Patten
Charles Patten died on December 12, 2018, while held at Okeechobee Correctional Institution, a Florida state prison. A judge at a February hearing called him "very intelligent" and said he hoped Patten would get the help he needed, and his attorney described a childhood marked by violence in Atlanta. The Florida Department of Corrections said he was found alone in his cell around 3 a.m. that Wednesday, and its mortality listing records the manner of death as suicide. A department spokesman said the death is under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and its Office of the Inspector General, and the department released no further details.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. The Florida Department of Corrections recorded the manner of death as suicide, and the state's investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of the Inspector General is pending.
Reported by: Florida Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Office of the Inspector General (outside investigators).