Mother of Allegheny County Jail inmate who committed suicide files lawsuit

The Allegheny County Jail was warned that a 62year-old inmate was suicidal before he hanged himself in his cell and should have prevented his death, a lawsuit filed Friday by the inmate’s mother claims.

Ross Frye Homestead was found hanging in his single cell Sept. 19 and died from his injuries Sept. 22 at a hospital.

After his death, Common Pleas Judge David Cashman, who chairs the Jail Oversight Board, said Mr. Frye showed “no signs” of being suicidal during a screening.

But according to the lawsuit, Mr. Frye told jail officials that he had previously attempted suicide, suffered from severe depression, and had a 20year history of drug and alcohol abuse.

The lawsuit says jail personnel should have treated Mr. Frye as a suicide risk and should not have housed him alone or allowed him access to items that he could use to hang himself.

It also claims the two correctional officers who were working the area where Mr. Frye died were not properly trained and could have saved Mr. Frye after he was found hanging.

Those officers, Robert Pristas and Andrew Ruffner, were suspended after the hanging.

The officers who found oMr.f Frye were not carrying a ‘cut-down tool,’ according to the lawsuit.

Hours after Mr. Frye’s hanging, Deputy Warden Simon Wainwright sent a memo instructing officers to always carry a cut-down tool — used to free someone who is hanging — while conducting rounds.

Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs declined to comment on the lawsuit, which names the county, Warden Orlando Harper, Deputy Warden Wainwright, and Officers Ruffner and Pristas as defendants.

Ms. Frye could not be reached.