The suicide death this week of a Black Lick man who was an inmate at the Indiana County Jail was a rarity for either the county jail or SCI Pine Grove, but suicide deaths at county jails across Pennsylvania are on the rise. There have been 81 of them across the commonwealth in the last four years, according to a report from the State Corrections Department. There have also been 231 deaths from natural causes at Pennsylvania’s county lockups since 2015.
There were 18 suicides and 231 attempted suicides at county prisons in Pennsylvania last year. Indiana County had none in either category, and reported only one unsuccessful suicide attempt between 2015 and 2018.
Prisons and jails are required to report inmate deaths to the Corrections Department. They use four categories: natural, accidental, homicide, and suicide.
The inmate who died this week hanged himself. He was first taken to the Indiana Regional Medical Center, then transferred to UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh, where he passed away. The Indiana County Jail averaged 129 prisoners in 2018.
