DAYTON — Raymond A. Walters, the man accused in a deadly 2019 crime spree that included a stabbing, stolen police cruiser, and crash that killed two girls, has been identified as the Montgomery County Jail inmate who died Tuesday.
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Walters, 34, who was an inmate at the jail, died at Miami Valley Hospital Tuesday. His cause and manner of death are still under investigation, Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger said in a media release.
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Jail staff believed Walters was “acting erratically” in his jail cell and took him to another location to be observed by medical staff, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Matt Haines said in a media release Wednesday.
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“Jail medical staff believed that Walters may have abused an unknown substance. The Dayton Fire Department was dispatched and Walters was transported to the Miami Valley Hospital where he passed away,” Haines said.
Jail staff members believed Walters was overdosing when they called for medics to respond to the jail, dispatch records, obtained by News Center 7 indicate.
The Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit has launched a criminal investigation into the incident and the department’s Inspectional Services Unit will conduct and internal investigation, Haines said.
Walters had been held at the Montgomery County Jail since the Aug. 26, 2019 incident where he was accused in a string of crimes including stabbing a family member, crashing a truck, stealing a Riverside police cruiser, then crashing that cruiser into another car killing two 6-year-old girls, Penelope Jasko of Dayton and Eleanor McBride of Huber Heights.
The two girls were cousins and were inside a van that the stolen Riverside police cruiser crashed into near the Dayton Metro Library on East Third Street.
Walters had been charged with over 20 charges in the incident, including two counts of murder.
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