A Lee County, Fla., Stockade inmate died Monday almost a week after he hanged himself from an air vent.

Gregory Kokolakis, 21, of North Fort Myers, is the third inmate to commit suicide since the end of July. He had just returned from the bathroom area around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 7 when he used a sheet to hang himself. His fellow inmates discovered him in the barracks.

"He never gained consciousness," said Chief Mark Levens. "He had a good pulse and was breathing on his own when he left our place."
Kokolakis, who was arrested Sept. 5 for failure to appear in court on misdemeanor charges, was taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center where he died six days later. No suicide note was found.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, is investigating what led up to his suicide.
Kokolakis is the third man to end his life at the jail.

On July 26, Liborio Villeda, 27, of Bonita Springs, hanged himself in his cell with a bedsheet. Five days later, Andrew Franzone, 42, of Cape Coral, died after using jail-issued towels to hang himself from the top bunk at the Lee County Jail.

Another inmate attempted to kill himself on Aug, 27 but survived. Jonathan Oscar Gomez, 20, of Marco Island is currently on suicide watch at the Lee County Jail.
After Villeda's death - the first since 1996 - officials began to review their policies on how to prevent suicides from happening.

So far, their medical technicians who screen the inmates when they are booked in the jail received extra mental health training. The jail created a medical hotline for inmates.
Officials are contacting other jails, such as Brevard, Pinellas, and Collier counties, to see how they screen inmates.

Levens said they sent a letter to the National Institute of Corrections for help.

The organization may send a representative to review the three deaths. A psychiatrist who works with the Collier County Jail has also been asked to do an assessment on the suicides.
"We are reaching out," Levens said. "We don't want to leave any stone unturned."