So'oso'o Motu
So'oso'o Motu, a 36-year-old man from Hawaii, spoke Samoan with his younger brother, Matthan Motu, on the phone calls they shared. He was held by Hawaii's corrections department at the privately run Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, and died there on October 21, 2024. Early reports, citing anonymous sources, said he had hanged himself, and the state first described the cause as pending. The Pinal County Medical Examiner's autopsy ruled the death a suicide by hanging and noted a history of depression and substance abuse. His brother said So'oso'o had been upset about being placed in segregation, had described gang pressure at the prison, and had sounded frustrated and unsafe there; Arizona and Hawaii investigators are looking into the death.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. The Pinal County Medical Examiner's autopsy ruled the death a suicide by hanging, and the Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the cause was pending, while anonymous sources told Civil Beat he hanged himself in a segregation unit.
Reported by: Pinal County Medical Examiner (medical examiner or coroner); Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the agency that held him); anonymous sources cited by Civil Beat (witnesses).