Inmate at parish jail commits suicide

St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain issued a press release Thursday afternoon stating that an inmate at the St. Tammany Jail in Covington committed suicide sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

According to the sheriff, the 40-year-old inmate, a Slidell man, was last seen alive in an isolation cell at 11 p.m. Wednesday during a routine check by the guards.

During another check at 4 a.m., guards found the inmate hanging from the ceiling with a bed sheet around his neck.

St. Tammany News will not reveal the inmate’s identity in respect to his family.

Strain said the inmate had been in jail since Oct. 2, and was incarcerated for parole violation, public intimidation, introducing contraband to a penal institution and distribution or possession of a legend drug without a prescription.

The inmate had been put into an isolation cell due to disruptive behavior with other inmates, Strain said, but the inmate was not on a suicide watch.

The sheriff said the inmate’s body was taken to the St. Tammany Coroner’s Office and sheriff’s office investigators are reviewing the incident.