NC jail deaths increased in 2025, records show

CHARLOTTE — More inmates died in custody in North Carolina in 2025 than the year before, records show.

Our partners at the Charlotte Observer dug through records from the Department of Health and Human Services and found 81 inmates died in 2025. Of those, 64 deaths occurred inside a jail, 12 of those deaths were by suicide and 40 were listed as natural causes.

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The number of deaths increased more than 30% compared to 2024.

The state’s largest county, Wake, had the most inmate deaths at six. Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties each had four.

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