A Jefferson County Jail corrections officer cut free a 25-year-old Hillsboro woman after she tried to hang herself early Tuesday morning (April 6) in an apparent suicide attempt, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said.
At 2:28 a.m. Tuesday, inmates alerted the officer about the woman, who had used a pair of pants in an attempt to hang herself and was blue in the face when the officer got to her in the cell. The officer cut her down and started life-saving measures, Bissell said.
The on-duty nurse and emergency medical personnel responded to the cell, and the woman was transported to an area hospital. The woman did not have signs of serious injury and was taken to the hospital for evaluation, Bissell said.
He said the woman had been arrested on Sunday (April 4), and the Sheriff’s Office is seeking charges against her through the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for possession of illegal drugs, stealing, fourth-degree domestic assault, driving without a seat belt and driving without insurance.
Bissell said it is not known if the woman had mental health problems, but she showed no signs of being suicidal when she arrived at the Jail in Hillsboro.
“Attempts at suicide are not a regular thing, but they do occur in correction facilities,” said Bissell, who also noted that Jail personnel regularly monitor prisoners and administer psychiatric tests when inmates are placed in the Jail.
Sheriff Dave Marshak said the officer who cut down the woman hanging in her cell has worked at the Jail for less than two years.
The Sheriff’s Office had one suicide in the Jail this year.
On Jan. 20, Joseph Michael Mendes, 29, of Imperial was found in a cell dead of an apparent suicide, Marshak announced at the time.
The Sheriff’s Office said Mendes was last seen alive at about 11 p.m. Jan. 19, and he showed no signs he was contemplating suicide.
Mendes, who also had addresses listed in Barnhart, Festus and St. Louis, was alone in a cell due to COVID-19 precautions, and there were no signs of violence or foul play, the Sheriff’s Office said in January.
Marshak said the Sheriff’s Office conducts a thorough internal review of its processes to identify weaknesses, improve procedures and to save documents for potential litigation.
“Inmates are screened by medical staff for numerous classifications including the likelihood for suicide,” Marshak said. “We had an inmate hang himself (Mendes) and upon listening to his phone calls hours before, he made no statement suggesting suicide was a consideration. In the last two years, we have increased the medical staff to include a psychological doctor. Dr. (Joshua) White has done an outstanding job educating corrections officers and supporting inmates who struggle with their life choices.”
Tuesday’s attempted hanging occurred two days after three male inmates overdosed on a substance believed to fentanyl that another inmate is suspected of smuggling into the Jail.
The inmates were found unconscious Sunday night. After officers administered naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of opiates, the inmates were taken to an area hospital for evaluation, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Bissell said the three men have returned to the Jail, and the Sheriff’s Office plans to seek charges against the prisoner suspected of supplying the illegal substance to them.
Marshak said he is proud of the corrections officers’ recent life-saving efforts at the Jail.
“We are so incredibly proud of our corrections divisions for the otherwise unrecognized work they do every day,” said Marshak, who also recognized the officers’ actions in a Tweet on Tuesday. “They are true partners in public safety and are too often overlooked. Jefferson County citizens should be proud of them, just as I am.”