Myers’ death was ruled a suicide this afternoon by Butler County Coroner Dr. Lisa Mannix following an autopsy. Cause of death is cerebral hypoxia due to hanging, according to the coroner.
Sheriff’s officials said Myers had no pulse and was unable to be revived. The Butler County Coroner’s Office pronounced Myers dead. The incident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office.
Myers had been in the jail since July 13 under a $250,123 bond on charges of receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony; aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; two counts of burglary, both second-degree felonies; and attempted burglary, a third-degree felony. He was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Friday in Hamilton Municipal Court.
Sheriff Richard Jones said Myers was given 30 days of discipline after taking items from other inmates and was placed in a cell isolated from the general population. He was evaluated by the forensic staff when he came to the jail and was not on suicide watch.
Jones said the last suicide in the jail was about five years ago, although unsuccessful attempts occur more often. Meyer hanged himself from a squatting position with a sheet attached to a locker.
“It happens. It is sad and I have compassion for the family,” Jones said. He added it is also difficult on the jail staff.
“We need to also have some compassion for the people have to deal with it,” the sheriff said.
Myers was arrested July 12 by the Hamilton police after allegedly robbing a West Side drive-through at knifepoint for a carton of cigarettes and some cash. Following a search by police and a Sheriff’s K-9 unit, Myers was found at his home and was taken into custody.
During their investigation, police identified Myers involvement in two residential burglaries that happened earlier that week in the 400 block of C Street on July 11 and in the 500 block of Valleyview Drive on July 16 as well as an attempted break-in of a home in the 200 block of D Street on June 28.
The last suicide at an area jail was in April at the Middletown City Jail. Police said there had been four other inmate suicides there since 2001. In Warren County, the last inmate suicide at the county jail was in 2010 and that there had been six others since 1997, said Sheriff Larry Sims.
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