Inmate found hanging by sheet in Ohio jail cell dies

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — A northwest Ohio sheriff says an inmate found hanging in his cell and later pronounced dead gave jail staff no indication that he should’ve been on suicide watch.

Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish tells The Lima News a correctional officer found the man Tuesday during a routine check, and emergency medical staff couldn’t save him. Crish says the inmate apparently used a bed sheet to hang himself.

Crish says the man was housed alone on “medical lockdown” because he had a broken arm. He’d been booked into the county jail Saturday for a 30-day sentence for not appearing at a hearing about a failure to pay child support.

An autopsy was planned. The sheriff has asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to help review what happened.