Suicide watch: How prisons manage suicidal inmates - CNN

Aaron Hernandez found hanged 01:25

Aaron Hernandez found hanged 01:25

Story Highlights

• Inmates on suicide watch may receive very different treatment from one prison to another
• Screening for mental health and suicidal thoughts may help identify inmates at risk, experts say

(CNN) — The suicide of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez in his prison cell is one of several recent suicides of people in custody, prompting experts to question whether these deaths were preventable.

Hernandez, who was convicted of murder in 2015, hanged himself Wednesday morning with a bedsheet tied to his window, according to prison officials.

accused of fatally shooting five people last year also hanged himself this week,

and

in an apparent suicide, according to police.

Hernandez was reportedly placed on suicide watch in 2015 after he was convicted for the murder of Odin Lloyd, for which he was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. But there has been no indication he was on suicide watch Wednesday morning. An investigation into his death is ongoing.

"Ideally there should be constant, one-on-one eyes on (suicidal) inmates," said Christine Tartaro, a professor of criminal justice at Stockton University and an expert on suicide in correctional facilities.

"I mean human eyes, not closed-circuit television," she said. "It is so easy to get distracted and walk away from the TV set."