The deputies entered the cell and started life-saving measures - including using electronic defibrilators - while jail staff contacted the Springfield Fire Division EMS, who arrived at 3:43 a.m. and declared the inmate deceased, authorities said.
“Although it appears that all involved members of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office acted in strict accordance with established policies and exhausted every effort to provide life saving measures to the inmate, this incident remains under investigation by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Clark County Coroner’s Office,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Newland served time in prison for assault and having weapons under disability from 2004 to 2011, according to Ohio Department of Corrections records.
Two Clark County Jail inmates killed themselves while in custody in 2010.
“Jails are the largest mental health facility in a county now,” said Sheriff Gene Kelly said earlier this month. Kelly said his jail has strict policies to screen and monitor inmates for suicidal behavior and place them on suicide watch if necessary. “Yet with all that, it is difficult to (stop) people who are intent on harming themselves.”
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