Attempted suicide at Cumberland County Jail

By Eric Russell
Staff Writer

PORTLAND – County sheriffs are investigating an attempted suicide Thursday morning at the Cumberland County Jail.

Two corrections officers, Deborah DeVou and Christopher Phillips, responded to what the jail calls a "code white" shortly after 7:30 a.m., according to a press release from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

An inmate, Lawrence Cox, had fashioned a noose from a bed sheet, hung it around his neck and then attached it to the top bunk in his jail cell.

Officers DeVou and Phillips released Cox from the noose once they found him and took him to the jail’s medical unit. The sheriff’s office said the man was awake and alert on his way to the hospital and did not suffer serious injuries.

The jail had no documentation that Cox was suicidal and no requests for mental health services had been made, the press release stated. Officers checked on Cox only after his cellmate reported that he had been acting strange, Sheriff Kevin Joyce said.

Cox, 50, of Westbrook, is being held at the jail on theft charges. He was arrested Aug. 19 and has not been able to post bail of $2.560, the sheriff said. Joyce did not have any details about the charges against Cox.

Joyce said his jail has been fortunate and has not seen many attempted hangings in recent years.

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