FARMINGTON, Utah, June 21, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — An inmate at Davis County Correctional Facility died by suicide Saturday night, officials said.
“This evening, an individual in our care and custody died by suicide,” said a news release from Davis County Sheriff’s Office. Although every effort was made to bring the individual back to life, from performing CPR to transporting them to a hospital for life-saving treatment, they did not survive.”
The incident occurred in one of the facility’s designated quarantine units, where inmates are housed for the first 14 days of their incarceration to allow for COVID-19 testing and assessment, and to ensure social distancing, the news release said.
“It should be noted that this death is not a result of the fall that occurred earlier in the day — these are two separate incidents involving two different individuals in two of our quarantine housing units,” the news release said.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends,” said Sheriff Kelly V. Sparks. “Today has been a very difficult day and we are providing everyone impacted by these tragic events the support they need.”
Internal and external investigations are being conducted and officials have increased the frequency of rounds in the housing units. “Additionally, we are offering mental health counseling to anyone who witnessed the incident,” the news release said. “Davis Behavioral Health is providing support for those in our care and custody and our employees are encouraged to utilize Davis County’s employee assistance program.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, free and confidential support is available, 24/7 by calling:
- Davis Behavioral Health: 801-923-7547
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
This is exact what I contacted the jail about about back in late January, with my question being is this, with Davis county having a high rate of suicide or suicidal attempts, how is locking the inmate down and only allowing the bare minimal time out of cell helping the inmate or the community? Where the direct result of such actions is actually just the opposite, that said there needs to be some sort of reform taken in the day to day dealing of this institution. #INMATES LIVES MATTER
I believe this is not the first individual to die this way at Davis County! They both seem to be similar in the way both inmates were seen having mental issues and no one intervened in stopping them! These loved ones were in your care! Is that how you would take care of your own?
Ya I’m sure another inmate died from suicide! Davis county is by far the worst jail to be inn. I’ve been there on traffic violations because I didn’t have the money to make a payment on my fine and I was treated like I murdered someone or did something so terrible that my life did not matter! I was also withdrawling off my medication that they refuse to give me so because I was withdrawling they threw me in max security and told me “Maybe u shouldn’t have been a drug addict you’ll live!” That’s the response I got when I told them I needed to go to medical. And I was only out of my cell 1 hour every other day! I thought I was going crazy I was losing my mind! It made my withdrawals 10 times worse! The guards are so hateful in there and it’s not right.