Inmate dies after hanging himself in jail

An inmate at the Elmore County Jail died after hanging himself the evening of Monday, Nov. 6.

Information regarding the death was not released until after presstime deadlines last week.

Authorities said that during regular security rounds jailers discovered that the inmate, identified as Jason Ammons of Mountain Home, had hung himself.

The deputies cut Ammons down and performed CPR until EMTs arrived at the scene.

Ammons was transported to Elmore Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities did not indicate how Ammons hung himself.

Jailers usually pass through the jail checking on inmates at roughly 15-minute intervals, and those known to be suicidal are held in a special cell that also is monitored by video.

Sheriff Rick Layher has requested assistance from the Idaho State Police to conduct a criminal investigation into the incident, which is standard procedure in cases where authorities have a death when someone is in custody.

The Ada County Sheriff's Office may also participate in a risk management investigation of the incident, based on findings of the criminal investigation.

Chief Deputy Nick Schilz said that Ammons was not on suicide watch during his incarceration at the jail and that interviews with other inmates did not indicate any desire from Ammons to harm himself.

Ammons, 25, was recently found guilty of manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine and sentenced to the custody of the Idaho Board of Corrections for 180 days.

Schilz said that it has been several years since they have had a successful suicide attempt while an inmate is in custody, though attempts do occur periodically.

Schilz commented that the design of the new jail, currently under construction, will provide much better visibility for the jailers to monitor the actions of the inmates.

Completion of the jail is expected in April of next year with staff anticipating moving into the building in June.

According to Bureau of Justice statistics, "the nation's smallest jails, housing 50 or fewer inmates, had a suicide rate five times higher than the largest jails, housing 2,000 or more inmates."

"During the three-year time period from 2000 through 2002, white jail inmates were six times more likely to commit suicide than black inmates and more than three times more likely than Hispanic inmates."

"The male suicide rate in local jails (50 per 100,000) was more than 50 percent higher than that of female inmates."

"Violent offenders had a suicide rate triple that of non-violent offenders."

Another study published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed that""64 percent of local jail inmates were found to have a mental health problem. Findings represent inmates reporting symptoms rather than an official diagnosis."

"Among those reporting symptoms, 54 percent of local inmates had symptoms of mania, 30 percent major depression, and 24 percent psychotic disorder."

Additional data showed that "inmates with a mental health problem also had high rates of substance dependence or abuse in the last year."