A police investigation team isn’t revealing any new details so far in the death of a 45-year-old woman in the City of Kent Corrections Facility.
“Right now, they are keeping things close to the chest and cannot speak on this case,” said Kolby Crossley, Auburn Police spokesperson, in an April 28 email after he spoke with the lead detective in the case.
Auburn is leading the investigation for the Valley Independent Investigative Team. Kent Police are not part of the investigation since city jail corrections officers are employed by the department.
Rena Rae Flaherty, 45, was found dead at about 8:05 a.m. Tuesday, April 22 in a holding cell by a corrections officer, according to Kent Police and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, whose April 24 report listed Flaherty’s cause and manner of death as pending.
“Cases that have cause and manner of death listed as pending will be added to the list again when cause and manner of death are determined,” according to the Medical Examiner’s Office website.
Flaherty had been in the jail since April 19, according to Kent Police.
The Valley Independent Investigative Team includes the police departments of Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Tukwila, Renton and Port of Seattle.
The city jail, 1230 Central Ave. S., opened in 1986. It houses misdemeanor offenders arrested by police as well as those sentenced to less than one year in Kent Municipal Court, which is next to the jail. The crimes include driving under influence, domestic violence, minor assaults, petty theft and others. Felony cases are handled by King County’s Maleng Regional Justice Center jail in Kent or the downtown Seattle county jail.
10th death at jail since opening
Flaherty is the 10th inmate, and second female, to die in custody at the city jail since it opened in 1986, according to a city of Kent reply April 29 to a public records request by the Kent Reporter. It is the first death since 2020.
The year, gender and age of inmates who died in custody at the City of Kent Corrections Facility:
• 1992: male, 36
• 1998: male, 26
• 1998: male, 49
• 1998: male, 34
• 2014: male, 42
• 2016: male, 23
• 2016: female, 49
• 2019: male, 28
• 2020: male, 51
• 2025: female, 45
Source: City of Kent
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the number of deaths at the city jail.
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