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| Inmate who committed suicide left alone nearly 7 hours |
| By Columbia State |
| Published: 11/17/2003 |
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Officers at the Richland County, S.C. jail left an inmate alone for almost seven hours before finding him hanging from his cell door, according to a county report obtained by The State on last Thursday. Two correctional officers also falsified log books, the report said. Jail policy says inmates should be checked every 30 minutes. Marc A. Washington Sr. had been returned to the jail from a nine-day stay at a mental health treatment facility only 10 hours before his death. Washington had tried to kill himself twice at the jail before being sent to the mental health facility, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said last Thursday night. The county earlier had acknowledged that jail employees had violated the policy calling for checks every 30 minutes. The report says the two officers who falsified the log books no longer are employed by the jail, but it does not say whether they resigned or were fired Some Richland County Council members and Washington's family said last Thursday they initially had been told the gap between checks was shorter. Washington, 41, had been arrested Oct. 17 and charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. Lott said Washington had tried to kill himself twice after arriving at the jail that day, but said he could not comment on the details. The county's report says Washington threatened suicide and was taken to a Department of Mental Health facility that day. He was returned to the jail Oct. 27, and placed in a cell. At 6:48 p.m., an officer checked on Washington, who was not under suicide watch, the report said. But no officer checked on him again until 1:12 a.m. The officer couldn't see him, and at 1:27 a.m. Washington was discovered hanging from a cell door with a bedsheet around his neck. Coroner Gary Watts, who ruled the death a suicide, said that Washington had been dead for at least 90 minutes before he was found. The report does not indicate when the log books were falsified. A sheriff's department investigation found no criminal wrongdoing. Lott said last Thursday night that his investigation had focused solely on actions that could have caused Washington's death. Washington's family said last Thursday they had not been told how long Washington was left alone. The county report says that signed medical orders from mental health that were transported with Washington to the jail "did not place any medical limitations on inmate Washington." After a physical check and interviews by "two medical professionals" at the jail, Washington was cleared to return to the general population, the report says. But a fax cover sheet sent to the jail before Washington arrived said employees should watch him for "suicidal gestures." The report says that cover sheet "had been discarded as a routine practice because medical personnel are required to only follow doctor's orders and protocol." The report said county administration will ask to meet with mental health officials to discuss how to transfer mentally ill inmates to the jail. |
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