Authorities identify inmate in third Muscogee County Jail suicide this year
The Muscogee County Jail inmate found dead Wednesday morning in an apparent suicide has been identified as Stanley Donnell Oates, authorities said.
Oates, 45, had been jailed since September 2019 on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of using a gun or knife to commit a crime, according to jail records.
Coroner Buddy Bryan was called to the jail at 4:32 a.m., and pronounced Oates dead at 5:05 a.m., records show. Bryan said Thursday that corrections officers had last checked on Oates around 2:40 a.m., before finding him dead shortly after 4.
Oates hanged himself with a bed sheet, Bryan said.
The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, which is responsible for jail operations, has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate Oates’ death.
Other deaths
There have been two other suicides at the jail this year.
A 62-year-old man died by an suicide following his Recorder’s Court hearing on June 4, according to Columbus police.
Bryan pronounced Michael Bragg dead at 7:24 p.m. Jail officials found Bragg unresponsive in his cell at 6:15 p.m., according to Major Joe McCrea.
Bragg appeared in Recorder’s Court at 9 a.m. the same day, charged with one count of child molestation.
There was no knowledge of Bragg having any mental health issues, according to police.
On May 15, Thomas Sawyers was found unresponsive in his cell by corrections officers distributing medication. He reportedly hung himself after being held in the jail for about 48 hours, authorities said..
Muscogee County Sheriff Donna Tompkins said he had a mental health screening after he was booked into the facility, but showed no obvious symptoms of illness or distress. He was being held on a charge of auto theft and had a $2,500 bond.
“He had been to the jail a couple of times, but he certainly was not in jail on serious charges,” the sheriff said in May.
“...what strikes me is that many of these people that are struggling, they’re not telling anybody that they’re struggling,” Tompkins added.
Call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 if you or someone you know is in distress. The free, confidential service is available 24/7.
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 10:05 AM.