Mario Mason
Mario Mason was a 26-year-old father who died on May 12, 2025, at the Oklahoma County Detention Center in Oklahoma City. A detention officer found him unresponsive in his cell during a welfare check, and he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The jail's Criminal Investigation Division is investigating, and the State Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the cause and manner of death, though one report says he hanged himself. His mother, Cicely Mason, said he had never shown signs of wanting to end his life, and that in their last conversations he told her that if he could choose their family again, he would. State inspections of the jail reportedly found that people on suicide watch were not being checked every 15 minutes.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. News reports say he hanged himself in his cell area, and his mother, Cicely Mason, said he had never shown signs of wanting to end his life.
Reported by: news reports on his death; Cicely Mason, his mother (family or their lawyers).
Sources (9)
- Oklahoma County jail detainee dead weeks after murder conviction
- Investigation underway after inmate death at Oklahoma County Detention Center on Monday
- Oklahoma County Detention Center CID investigating inmate death
- Jail officials respond to spike in inmate deaths at Oklahoma County Detention Center
- Oklahoma Detention Center inmate deaths since January 2024
- As new facility remains unfunded, Oklahoma County Jail deaths on pace to match worst year
- Trying to prevent deaths, Oklahoma County Jail installs radar first designed for outer space
- 'The system failed him': Suicide at an Oklahoma jail points to a troubling trend
- Undercounted: Why suicide is a leading cause of death in U.S. jails : Here & Now Anytime