Connecticut

Suicide of inmate, 17, from city stirs action

The recent suicide of a 17-year-old inmate from Bristol at a state corrections facility in Cheshire has prompted state officials to create a multi-agency panel to improve care and supervision for young offenders.
State Correction Commissioner Theresa C. Lantz said Monday the new working group will include representatives from five different state agencies and offices.
“I believe the suggestions and recommendations offered by this working group, in addition to changes we have already initiated, will improve the continuity of care and supervision for these offenders,” Lantz said in a prepared statement.

The inmate who committed suicide at the Manson Youth Institution in Cheshire on July 24 was David Burgos of Bristol. His mother said her son had bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
State officials said Burgos hanged himself with a bedsheet while his cell mate was sleeping, although guards were checking his cell every 15 minutes.
Burgos had been living at the Cheshire facility since March while he was being prosecuted for an alleged probation violation.

Prison suicides in Connecticut jumped sharply in 2004, when nine inmates killed themselves. On average, only three to five inmates a year commit suicide in Connecticut prisons and jails.
An April suicide in the New Haven police headquarters lockup resulted in the firing of four judicial marshals for sleeping on duty and other policy violations.
State agencies represented on the new working group include the Department of Children and Families, the Office of the Child Advocate, the Court Support Services Division and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Gregory B. Hladky
16 August 2005

http://www.bristolpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15040674&BRD=1643&PAG=461&dept_id=10486&rfi=6

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