MANSFIELD — A male inmate at the Richland County Jail was pronounced dead on Sunday after an apparent suicide over the weekend.
According to Capt. Chris Blunk, jail administrator at the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, correctional staff was notified of a male inmate needing immediate medical attention shortly after 2:47 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11.
Correctional officers and the jail’s medical staff responded to the housing unit where officers found 43-year-old Shane Gregory Mathews, “unresponsive with a sheet around his neck hanging in the shower.”
According to an incident report from the jail, Mathews was initially found by another inmate, Jamarkus O’Neal, who called for help.
Officers removed the sheet and performed “immediate, life-saving measures.” Emergency medical services were summoned and the Mansfield Fire Department arrived to transport Mathews to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital for treatment.
Mathews was pronounced dead at 12:12 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13.
An investigation of this incident is being conducted by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office. Security video of the incident has been requested by the Sheriff’s Office.
Suicide is the single leading cause of death for people in jails, accounting for almost 30% of deaths. Someone in jail is more than three times as likely to die from suicide as someone in the general U.S. population.
According to a study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 2001 to 2019, the number of suicides increased 85% in state prisons, 61% in federal prisons, and 13% in local jails. There were 244 suicides reported in Ohio during the same time period.
From 2010 to 2019, suffocation – including hanging and self-strangulation – accounted for nearly 90% of suicide deaths in local jails.
