After four years without a suicide death, the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center recently had two in the span of three days — an anomaly by state and even national standards.

Angela Meitzner, 21, used her bedsheet to hang herself while her three cellmates slept, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts says. The cellmates found Meitzner hanging when the lights came on about 5 a.m., last Tuesday, Oct. 20, Watts says.

Olin D. Taylor II, 39, used shoelaces to hang himself, Watts said. A detention officer found Taylor about 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17, just one day after he was booked into the jail on charges of assault and battery with intent to kill, officials say.
 

Two inmates hanged themselves in the span of three days at Richland County’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. The county is determining whether changes need to be made to the center’s internal processes to prevent loss of life in the future. Photo by Jonathan Sharpe

“It’s very unusual for there to be multiple suicides within a few days,” says Lindsay Hayes, project director for the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives. “It could be a fluke. [Or] could be an indication that there is a serious problem with suicide prevention in that particular jail.”

Now investigators have to determine whether their deaths could have been avoided.
Richland County spokeswoman Stephany Snowden says jail staff saw no red flags during the mental health screening that all inmates go through during booking. Each year, the Richland County jail books about 22,000 people, and the first few hours after being booked are the riskiest, especially if it’s the person’s first time in jail, officials say.

Meitzner had no prior arrests before she was picked up on forgery charges, according to a background check. Her bond had been set at $50,000. Taylor was already facing a Nov. 9 court date on charges of criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and kidnapping when he was charged with stabbing a woman, officials say. Taylor was denied bond.

Also unusual is that a female inmate committed suicide, Hayes says. Suicide is the leading cause of death among jail inmates, according to the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, which is based in Maryland. About 90 percent of inmates are men, with white men being the most likely to commit suicide.

Detention officers trained in suicide prevention are required by the state to check on inmates at 30-minute intervals, Snowden says.

“We are checking and seeing if our internal checks were followed,” Snowden says. “If something can be improved on, then we will do it, because one death is too many.”

At most, there are about six suicides a year among the state’s 44 county jails, officials say.

The Richland County jail hasn’t had a suicide since May 2005, Snowden says.

In May 2006, the county hired the Columbia Area Mental Health Center to provide care to the inmates, says John Brown, the center’s director of crisis and forensic services.

Two counselors are on staff during the week and a psychiatrist comes once a week, Brown says. A medical technician asks the inmates at booking a series of 18 questions to determine whether they are suicidal or have any medical needs, Brown says.

“Often the person will admit it,” says Brown, who has more than 30 years experience working with inmates. “They are glad the person asked and they are willing to talk.”

Still, he says, “Some people are able to wear a mask and you just don’t see it.”


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