ALFRED — The State Medical Examiner’s Office said the death of an inmate at York County Jail Sunday morning was a suicide.

Jeffrey Noonan, 49, of Saco, died after removing a shunt that had been used for his kidney dialysis, said Maine Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.

Maine State Police detectives said jail corrections staff had placed Noonan on suicide watch after he told medical officials he planned to make such an attempt.

Noonan was checked at 6:12 a.m. Sunday, and at 6:30 a.m., he was found dead in his cell.

Noonan had been in custody since Jan. 9, when he was arrested by court security personnel on a warrant for allegedly failing to appear on a charge of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs. Noonan had been arrested in May on a drug trafficking charge.

According to a statement released by York County Chief Deputy Bill King, Noonan was taken for medical treatment by corrections staff on Saturday and returned to jail later that day.

According to protocols prescribed by the Office of the Attorney General, the death of an individual in custody, regardless of the likely cause, manner and circumstances, is investigated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the criminal investigation division of Maine State Police and the Department of Corrections.



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