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In a first-of-its-kind investigation built on 1,500 public records requests over two years, Reuters produced an unprecedented public accounting of inmate mortality at more than 500 U.S. jails – every major jail in the country and the 10 largest in each state. The project documented more than 7,500 deaths in those jails from 2008-2019. In at least two of every three cases, the people who died were awaiting trial and presumed innocent. Thousands perished from preventable causes, such as suicide and addiction. Black inmates died in disproportionate numbers. And a stunning rise in deaths of female inmates revealed the stresses created as more and more women are housed in jails designed mainly for men.