Inmate hangs self in Adams
An inmate at the Adams County jail hanged himself one day after being released from suicide watch this month, becoming the second man to take his life at the facility this year.
William Soper, 38, was removed from life support Friday, five days after he was found hanging in his cell, authorities say.
Soper was being held on charges from a November arrest by SWAT officers in Thornton following an hours-long standoff. He had a long history of mental health issues, including a schizophrenia diagnosis, according to his mother.
Sgt. Jim Morgen, spokesman for the county sheriff’s office, said Monday that Soper hanged himself April 17 during a 25-minute window between staff checks. He was cut down and revived before being transported to a hospital in critical condition, Morgen said.
Soper was placed on suicide watch April 14 after making comments about harming himself following a court hearing, Morgen said. The watch was lifted April 16 after Soper was evaluated by medical staffers, but he was moved to protective custody in a cell by himself because of tensions he had with other inmates.
“They deemed him stable,” Morgen said.
Morgen declined to specify how Soper hanged himself.
Soper was arrested Nov. 15 in Thornton after allegedly assaulting his mother, officials said. When officers arrived after being called about the assault, Soper barricaded himself inside a home on 129th Avenue.
Police said he got into a confrontation with officers outside the residence, and he later was charged with second-degree assault, felony menacing and retaliation against a victim or witness.
Court records show Soper appeared before an Adams County judge April 14 for a review of his case and was set for arraignment in May.
All charges against Soper were dismissed by prosecutors Friday, the day he died, the records show.
“He was legally brain dead,” Soper’s mother, Debra Soper, said Monday. “His prognosis was that
he would not recover.”
Soper said she decided to remove her son from life support because he wanted to be an organ donor. She added that her son had been in and out of jail and mental health facilities.
In March, another inmate at the Adams County jail, who was awaiting trial after 15 years on the run from child sex assault charges in Ohio, committed suicide.
David Lee Skelly, 40, was being held in lieu of $1 million bail when deputies found him unresponsive in his cell. Authorities did not say how he took his life.
During a three-month period between April 2015 and July 2015, three men killed themselves in the jail; two of the suicides happened on back-to-back days.
Morgen said the sheriff ’s office took several steps after that period to prevent suicides, including installing new shorter, breakaway shower curtains. Inmates had used the old curtains to hang themselves.
“They’ve done a lot of different protocol changes over the past year to try to prevent this,” Morgen said.