GOLDEN — A 47-year-old man apparently committed suicide this morning in the Jefferson County Jail.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death. Spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said an autopsy is scheduled, although it is believed to be a suicide.
The man, who is not being identified until family members are contacted, was found hanging in a holding cell in the jail’s booking area, Kelley said.
Deputies began resuscitation efforts, and the man was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.am.
Kelley said the man was discovered during a routine walk-through. She did not know when previous checks had been made in the area.
Kelley said she could not comment on what the man hanged himself with.
The man had been booked into the jail three hours earlier on a misdemeanor traffic charge.
The last reported suicide in the Jefferson County Jail was on Oct. 20, 2006. Four inmates committed suicide in the Jefferson County Jail in 2005. Since then, a jail suicide expert did an audit on the jail and offered ideas to reduce the risk of suicide.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
