Prisoners' Deaths in Local Jails: Factors Influencing Inmate Suicide

Since 1987, there have been 49 inmate deaths in jails and prisons across the state of Mississippi. No study has been produced or written to explicate why such deaths have occurred in Mississippi's jails. Most of the deaths have been labeled suicide, but further research by the author has led to other explanations that these deaths were not all suicide. Many of the victims were African American, male, young and with no previous history of arrests. Within 24 hours of being incarcerated, many of these pre-trial detainees were found hanged in their jail cells with larynx and muscles missing, tongue cut out and body covered with bruises.