Suspect in killing is apparent suicide

Jail officials won’t say how city worker died

The Baltimore city employee who was charged with killing a co-worker at a public works facility last week was found dead in his jail cell of an apparent suicide, corrections officials said.

Cipisirono Cole, 47, was found unresponsive about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday by officers at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center in Baltimore, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said in a statement.

The officials would not say how Cole died.

“We can’t say anything at this point,” corrections spokesman Gerard Shields said.

Cole was charged in the shooting death of Darrin Ulysses Johnson Jr. at the Park Terminal building, the city facility that houses water and sewer system employees. Cole fled the facility after the shooting, police said, but turned himself in Saturday.

The corrections department’s Internal Investigative Division is investigating Cole’s death, Shields said, and the medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy.

Officials said Cole, like all detainees, underwent “an extensive screening during his intake,” which included a mental health review. They said he did not display signs of suicidal tendencies and reported no mental health history.

Shields said such reviews are based largely on self-reporting, but also factor in “any signs of distress.”

He said detainees’ names are also run through a computer system to determine whether they are connected to community treatment services. Cole was not found to be connected to any previous treatment services, he said.

Detainees who are found to have mental health problems are sent to a 32-bed acute mental health unit at Central Booking, where they have access to prescription medications and special care, Shields said.

Shields said Cole was placed inside a single cell at his request.

“If you feel like you have some danger, or you are afraid,” Shields said, detainees can request a single cell. He said there was no indication Cole told officials he feared for his safety.

Shields said inmates in high-profile cases are sometimes placed in single cells.

Cole did not have an attorney listed in online court records.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Wednesday called the incident “a tragic situation all around.”

She said the city is working to make sure employees are getting the support they need to cope with the loss of two coworkers.

Since Gov. Larry Hogan closed the Baltimore City Detention Center last summer, union leaders who represent corrections officers have said staffing at city jails has plunged to dangerously low levels.

Union president Patrick Moran said more officers might have prevented Cole’s death. He said there remain 18 open positions at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center.

Shields said there was no shortage of staff.