Azzalina was found by jail staff at 3:45 a.m. He has been an inmate since Nov. 30 for a probation violation, according to Butler County Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer. He was a prisoner of the Bureau of Prisons, so he had been in prison, was released and violated his probation.
He was alone in a cell because he was on homicide watch.
“At one point not too long ago, he was placed on homicide watch. He had made verbalizations about killing his cell mate,” Dwyer said. “We have a protocol in cases like that. We are concerned about the safety of the inmates around him. They are single-celled at that time. We also restrict visits and (other privileges) while they are there.”
The forensic staff also contacts the inmates to try to transition them into the general population. Dwyer said Azzalina did not indicate he had any suicidal thoughts.
Travis Goad, 33, died from an apparent suicide at the Butler County Jail about 1 a.m. on Jan. 31. Goad was charged with two felonies after allegedly walking into the West Chester Police Department on Jan. 29 and telling officers he put a bomb at a business, which turned out to be false. A large contingent of police and the county bomb squad unit responded to investigate.
After talking to Goad for several hours, police took him to the jail. Dwyer said he was placed in a cell block for inmates with special needs. Goad was in a cell alone with the door open. He was found kneeling and leaning into a devise fashioned for hanging.
Before Goad’s death, it had been three years since a suicide in the county jail.
“It is an unfortunate circumstance and something that is difficult for everyone,” Dwyer said.
Last month Dwyer shared some of the ways staff are trained to prevent suicides in the jail.
“When (inmates) are brought in, before booking one of the questions asked is do they have any suicidal ideations, and based on the response we will take whatever action necessary. The difficult part is a lot of people in jail either exacerbate or limit their problems,” Dwyer said. “Are they being honest at that point? But if someone indicates they are suicidal we have protocol we follow.”
That includes suicide prevention cells with glass doors, special beds and a suicide-proof gown.
“It’s a very thick material that can’t be folded to make any type of ligature,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer said it is much more difficult for an inmate to commit suicide while on suicide watch.
“So people may be less than truthful about their intentions with jail staff,” he said. “We have had people screened and cleared then go and commit suicide. We have had people manipulate to get in to a position where they could.”
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