El Dorado County inmate dies in custody

A 39-year-old El Dorado County man died in his cell at the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville.

Dennis Rank

Dennis Renk was found unresponsive on Aug. 27 at 12:24am.

He had been in custody for nearly 10 months on a murder charge. Renk was accused of killing 56-year-old Langley Pratt of Camino. The two had been in a fight last November that ended in Pratt’s death, according to El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies.

Renk was taken to Marshall Hospital in Placerville where he was pronounced dead four hours later.

The cause of death is under investigation by a multi-agency team.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report