A Wichita man who was recently convicted in a fatal shooting was found unresponsive in his cell at the Sedgwick County jail Wednesday morning, and he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Deputies found 24-year-old Daitrez Birch around 8:45 a.m. and staff began providing medical treatment but that was unsuccessful.
Birch had been in custody since last August and he was recently sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for the death of 39-year-old Kyce Barnes, whose body was found in the trunk of a car in a vacant lot in the 8200 block of West Irving. Birch entered a guilty plea to second degree murder, aggravated burglary and criminal desecration, and he was sentenced to 327 months.
The Sheriff’s Office will investigate along with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. This is the third in-custody death at the jail this year.
