Luzerne County inmate died Sunday from suicide

WILKES-BARRE — A 36-year-old male Luzerne County Correctional Facility inmate has died from suicide, officials said.

County Coroner Francis Hacken said Monday evening the cause of the death was hanging, and the manner was suicide. County Manager C. David Pedri informed county council of the death by email Monday morning.

According to Pedri’s email:

The inmate was found unresponsive in his assigned cell at approximately 9:33 p.m. on March 22.

Correctional Officers immediately responded and provided life-saving measures until facility medical personnel arrived.

Outside emergency medical responders transported the man to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where he remained under medical care until a hospital physician pronounced him dead at 7:08 p.m. on Sunday.

The county District Attorney’s Office was immediately notified March 22 to begin an investigation of the circumstances of the inmate’s unresponsive condition.

An autopsy was performed on Monday, which led to Hacken’s official cause of death.

County Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich said Monday he and the entire staff are vigilant about suicide prevention, and he grieves when an inmate’s suicide plan is unknown to others and carried out.

“I take it personally. I really do,” Rockovich said. “Our deepest condolences go to the family.”

The county beefed up mental health services and protocols, in part to address concerns raised after the death of four female inmates from June 2017 to January 2018, officials have said. Three of these deaths were ruled suicides, and the fourth was deemed accidental.

In addition to inmates impacted by dependency on opioids and other drugs, more offenders with mental health disabilities land in the county prison system today due to the closure and downsizing of state hospitals in favor of community-based treatment programs that in many cases never materialized, officials have said.