Christian Gonzalez

A detainee at the Cook County Jail has been charged in the death of his cellmate.

Christian Gonzalez, 24, of Chicago has been charged with first-degree murder, following a Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigation. Gonzalez has been charged in the death of 19-year-old detainee Pedro Ruiz in Division 9 of the jail.

Gonzalez was scheduled to appear in board court Thursday afternoon (Feb. 6).

Ruiz was found unresponsive in his cell with head trauma at 1:53 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 1).

Gonzalez has been in custody since June 2 after being ordered held without bond on charges that included attempted murder.

Ruiz, also of Chicago, was ordered held at the jail without bond on Friday (Jan. 31) on charges that included attempted murder.

“This office has launched a thorough internal investigation of all the factors involved in the case,” said Allison Peters, assistant press secretary for the Cook County Sheriff’s’ Office. “We take all acts of violence in the jail extremely seriously and work tirelessly to prevent those intent on committing harm from being able to do so.”

Peters said the office had no further comment on the incident due to the ongoing internal investigation and criminal case.