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March 07, 2008
Western MA: Man sentenced to Hampden County Jail for Drug Possession Hangs Himself
Westfield man hangs self in jail
Thursday, March 06, 2008
By GEORGE GRAHAM
Springfield Republican
LUDLOW - A 41-year-old Westfield man hanged himself on Tuesday at the Hampden County Correctional Center.
Kevin J. Small, of Westfield, hanged himself with a bed sheet that he had tied to the top bunk in his cell, said Richard J. McCarthy, spokesman for the Hampden County Sheriff's Department.
A corrections officer discovered Small hanging from the bunk at 5:35 p.m. and immediately cut him down, McCarthy said.
Facility medical personnel worked to revive him, but to no avail, McCarthy said.
Outside paramedics joined the effort at about 5:50 and Small was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield at about 6:35 p.m., McCarthy said.
Small's death, as with all correctional facility deaths, was investigated by state police detectives, McCarthy said.
Small had been alone in his cell. Although his cell door had been unlocked, there was no evidence that anybody else had played a role in his death, McCarthy said.
The unit's on-duty officer is expected to make rounds every 30 minutes. Electronic and video information verified that he had done so.
McCarthy said Small was serving time for drug possession.
Small was screened at the start of his sentence, and there was no indication that he might be suicidal, McCarthy said.
Small was in a special unit for short-term inmates deemed to be low risk. He was serving the 14th day of a 90-day term, McCarthy said.
The unit, McCarthy said, was not crowded. It has a capacity of 77. Small had been one of 54 inmates there.
The facility has had other suicides, one in January 2006 and another in April 2003, McCarthy said. http://www.masslive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-13/1204791655257180.xml&coll=1
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Posted by lois at March 7, 2008 12:25 PM