Man being held on federal charges found dead at Alexandria jail

The city of Alexandria’s Public Safety Center. (Rich Lipski/The Washington Post)

A 25-year-old Fairfax County man was found dead Wednesday morning while being held on federal charges in the Alexandria City jail, city law enforcement officials said.

The Alexandria Sheriff’s Office and city police detectives are investigating the in-custody death after authorities found Anthony Moaf “suffering from an apparent medical emergency” while alone in a cell at the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center just after 8 a.m., officials said in a statement. The cell was located in the booking area of the jail, which he had entered two days before on Monday, the statement said..

Upon finding Moaf, officials said deputies administered emergency treatment and requested a 911 response. The jail’s medical staff began administering emergency treatment. City medics responded to provide medical treatment, but Moaf died at 8:44 a.m., police said.

Moaf was being held on charges that he caused “serious bodily injury or death” by distributing the drug Metonitazene to an Alexandria woman who was found dead of an overdose in her home Sept. 25, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. district court. Prosecutors did not identify the woman in the court filing.

Alexandria police will investigate the death, the statement said, while the sheriff’s office “will conduct a review of the incident to ensure all policies and procedures were followed,” the statement said.

Federal inmates are often housed at the facility per an agreement between the sheriff’s office and the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the statement.