TPD Investigating 2010 Case After Inmate's Death Ruled Homicide

After a death at the Tulsa County jail was ruled a homicide, Tulsa police are now investigating a 2010 case.

Jailers found Leo Horn dead in his cell back in June. At that time it was determined to be a natural death, but newly released medical examiner reports changed the cause of death to homicide.

Horn, charged with rape, had been in the Tulsa County jail for a little more than a year.

At the time of his arrest, Horn had been dealing with a wide range of medical problems; problems experts link to his death.

During a news conference Monday, Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado said when jailers found Horn there were no signs of trauma on him or signs of violence in his cell.

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"At the time of the initial investigation, there was nothing that led us to believe that he died of anything other than natural causes. That's why the medical examiner is part of this process," Regalado said.

Police arrested Horn in August of 2015 on accusations of rape. Prior to that arrest, the sheriff said Horn hadn't been in the best of health.

"In 2010, Mr. Horn was a victim of a serious assault that left him on life support at the time and he had sustained injuries that were consistent with the injuries listed in the medical examiner’s report," Regalado said.

During the year in jail, the sheriff said Horn had a list of medical problems - all stemming from the 2010 assault.

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The medical examiner listed the cause of death related to skull fractures - an injury from the 2010 assault.

Tulsa police are now investigating Horn’s death.

Tulsa police sergeant, Dave Walker, said, "He was not breathing on his own, the tracheotomy was in place because of that, and he had a skull fracture and concussion."

Tulsa police never arrested anyone at the time; Walker said there could be several reasons why.

They'll find out as they look further into the case.

"I think the suspect and our victim may have lived in the same house. There was some type of combat going on and Leo Horn lost," Walker said.

Police are not releasing the name of the man who they say beat up Horn. And, as of right now, it's not clear if charges will be filed against that person.

Marq Lewis with We the People Oklahoma said he watched the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office news conference and has more questions about Horn’s death.

"I'm not saying there is any doubt, but to say a six-year-old injury causes a person to mysteriously die, and then last week we had another death. I mean, something is not adding up, and like I keep saying, this is the most protected area in the jail," Lewis said.

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He said in the coming days he hope the sheriff's office will release any video of Horn in jail as well as the full medical examiner's report.

Despite recent incidents, however, the Tulsa County sheriff said there are significantly fewer deaths at Tulsa's jail than other jails about the same size.

Last week, Regalado showed county commissioners a study that shows there have been no homicides in the county jail in the last three years - and only five suicides.

The study also shows that the number of deaths in Oklahoma jails is consistently lower than the national average.