Inmate hanged himself at Vermillion Co. Jail

VERMILLION COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - About 2 a.m. Saturday Vermillion County jail officials found 20-year-old Charles David Jackson of Cayuga dead in his cell. Officials said Jackson hanged himself using his own prison clothes.

News 10 spoke with Sheriff Bob Spence about the incident. He and many jail officials are calling the incident "heartbreaking."

The jail routinely takes precautions to protect inmates from harming themselves. Spence said Jackson did not show any of signs of suicide or depression. If they would have known what he was planning, Spence said they could have taken more precautions.

"We do keep a special eye on that individual, there's rooms we can put them in, isolation cells, we've got the padded cells," Spence said.

Saturday morning jailers were doing their usual checks, at the first check Jackson was fine, sitting in his cell. At the second check, Jackson was dead.

"We're required to do it once an hour, yet we did it in 50 minutes and we still were taken by surprise," Spence said.

Saturday, the entire jail was put on lockdown during the investigation.

Jackson's cell block is still on lockdown, until further notice.

Jackson was arrested in December on theft charges, he was expected to be released in just a few months.