Will County jail inmate who died, identified as man charged with threatening Crest Hill mayor

A man charged with threatening to shoot the Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman has been identified as the inmate who died at the Will County jail.

On Tuesday afternoon, Will County Coroner Laurie Summers’ office identified Richard Walkey, 78, of Crest Hill, as the inmate who died Friday night at the jail on 95 S. Chicago St., Joliet.

The statement from Summers’ office said Walkey’s death was the “probable result of natural causes.”

The final cause and manner of his death will be determined at a later date.

Walkey’s identity was initially withheld pending notification of his family.

Walkey had been in the jail since July 18, on a $100,000 bond after he was arrested on a charge of threatening to shoot Soliman.

Walkey’s death at the jail remains under investigation by the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force.

About 11:44 p.m. Friday, sheriff’s deputies responded to the jail to escort Walkey to a local hospital after staff in the facility’s medical unit found him unresponsive, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

An autopsy of Walkey was conducted on Saturday and indicated he died of a medical emergency. The sheriff’s office did not disclose what that medical emergency was.

Romeoville Police Chief Ken Kroll, the task force spokesman, said he did not know specifically what medical event led to Walkey’s death. He said he was told Walkey was “known to have a couple of significant medical concerns.”

Walkey’s attorney, Randolph Green, had filed a motion in his client’s criminal case that said Walkey suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and was on numerous medications.

In March, another inmate at the jail – Robert Vaughan, 51, of Frankfort – had also died at the jail in what the sheriff’s office said was an apparent suicide. He was jailed following his arrest by Frankfort police on a charge of aggravated battery.

Kroll said the task force investigation of Vaughan’s death was closed on May 31.

Kroll said the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office told the task force that no charges would be filed in reference to their investigation.

When jail staff found Vaughan unresponsive in a booking cell, from what appeared to be a suicide, the staff began life-saving measures on him, according to the sheriff’s office. He was then taken by ambulance to Ascension Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead.