GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.—A prisoner at the Garfield County Detention Facility committed suicide Monday night, authorities said.
Timothy Schilz Jr., 24, was found hanging in his cell during a scheduled security check in the maximum security unit of the prison.
“We visually check each inmate,” Sheriff Lou Villario told The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, “but he was probably aware of our timing and knew he had 30 minutes to do what he did. It’s very unfortunate.”
Schilz was from the Parachute-Battlement Mesa area.
He was a pretrial inmate being housed on two contempt of court charges and a failure to register as a sex offender.
Schilz was not under any suicide or behavioral watch at the time of his death, but authorities would not comment about his medical history or mental health, citing federal health privacy laws.
The sheriff’s office is investigating his death.
