The custodial death report (CDR) filed about the May 26, 2022, death of Ashley Elizabeth Maxwell indicates that she exhibited mental health problems during the booking process at the Gregg County Jail in Longview, Texas. Ms. Maxwell was housed in a multiple occupancy cell. At 10:40 PM on the night of her death, she was found hanging from a cable wire attached to a television. Despite life-saving efforts, minutes later, at 11:08 PM, she was pronounced dead in nearby Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center.

The Importance of Suicide Prevention Training

Statistics show that the leading cause of death in local city and county jails in the US is suicide. In prisons, suicide is the third leading cause of death. Suicide in local jails is also four times the rate of suicide in the country as a whole. Hanging is the means of most custodial suicides. Strangulation by hanging can cause death in 5 to 6 minutes. Four minutes is all it takes for brain death to occur. Inmates in US jails have died after hanging themselves from windows, smoke detectors, bunk beds, ventilation grates, television cable wires, sinks, cell doors, shower knobs, and clothing hooks.

Correctional officers and other jailers have a huge role in preventing inmate suicide. Therefore, mandatory training for suicide prevention should be a priority. Currently, intake screening is viewed as a major point of identifying at-risk inmates and knowing who to protect from suicide. Intake screening, however, is a flawed tool. The risk of suicide for any particular inmate can fluctuate throughout his or her time of incarceration.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, and this continuing series.

This website purposes to help inmates who are currently or have previously been detained in a county jail facility in Texas. Making accusations of wrongdoing, whether by people or entities, is never intended on this site.

–Guest Contributor