Suicide triggers probe of tribal jail
TOPPENISH, Wash. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been investigating the suicide of an inmate at a Yakama tribal detention center where the man’s body was left hanging in his cell for at least five hours.
The inmate, Ricky Owens Sampson, died June 25 when he hanged himself in his cell at the detention center on south-central Washington’s Yakama Indian Reservation. His body was left hanging – long enough for rigor mortis to set in – because the jail had just one staffer on duty that night, jail supervisor Ned Tillequots said.
Tribal officials expect a report from the investigation soon.
Nedra Darling, an Indian affairs spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior, confirmed an investigation was under way but said she could not comment further Friday.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs operates detention centers and funds tribal-run jails.
Sampson, 40, was being held for investigation of violating a domestic-violence no-contact order, Tillequots said. He was accused of violating the order again while in jail and was moved to an isolation cell in the former juvenile wing.
Sampson was not on suicide watch and hanged himself in a part of the cell not monitored by cameras.
Family members believe Sampson was left hanging for much longer than five hours, and tribal Police Chief Elliot Lewis said they might file a lawsuit. “I’m concerned about how long he was left,” Lewis said.
The suicide occurred two days after the inspector general for the U.S. Department of the Interior criticized Indian country jails in testimony before Congress.
“BIA’s detention program is riddled with problems and, in our opinion, is a national disgrace, with many facilities having conditions comparable to those found in Third World countries,” Inspector General Earl Devaney said.
An investigation by Devaney’s office found a disturbing record of suicides and escapes, many of them unreported to the BIA. His office released portions of the investigation in April; a full report is expected later this summer, said spokeswoman Pam Boteler.
The U.S. Department of Justice also recently visited the Yakama jail to investigate conditions, Lewis said.
The Yakama jail was built in 1974 as a short-term holding facility but now houses inmates for up to 1 1/2 years. There are about seven or eight escapes a year, and the facility has had at least four suicides in its history, Tillequots said.
“It’s not set up for being a jail,” he said. The jail ordinarily has two people on duty, and they are expected to check on inmates every 30 minutes. But the jail was short-staffed the night of Sampson’s death because of vacations, he said.
The Yakamas were forced to stop housing juveniles at their 50-bed jail in May as a result of the federal probe, in order to separate younger offenders from adults.