St. Clair County Jail inmate found in cell dead of apparent suicide

A 42-year-old man being held on drug and burglary charges was found unresponsive in a St. Clair County Jail cell Thursday. He later died, despite the efforts of jail staff who tried to revive him.

The man apparently took his own life, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Department. It’s not clear how the man killed himself or what evidence investigators found to conclude that he likely had.

The sheriff’s department has not released his name, nor will it be published by the Belleville News-Democrat.

“No one wants to see anyone reach a point in their life where they feel suicide is the answer to their problems,” St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson said through a statement. “Our staff makes every effort to assist people in crisis and place them on special watches for their own protection and speak with a counselor.

“Any time an incident like this occurs we will review our actions and policies to see if anything can be done to prevent this from happening again.”

According to the release, other detainees were in a recreation area of the cell block under supervision, but individual cells were not required to be checked. The inmate returned alone to his cell before he was found by corrections officers at about 10:15 p.m.

The man had been held at the jail for six days on charges of possession and intent to deliver a controlled substance and residential burglary with unlawful damage to property. He was set to appear in court on Sept. 18.

He had been homeless at the time of his arrest, said Sheriff’s Department Capt. Bruce Fleshren.

An autopsy is pending.

This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 11:40 AM.