ST. LOUIS — A detainee in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Justice Center died Sunday morning in what authorities are calling an apparent suicide.
The man, 34-year-old Javon White, was found unconscious in his cell by a correctional officer just before 6:10 a.m. after an apparent suicide attempt, according to Monte Chambers, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Public Safety. He died later at a hospital.Â
Charles Coyle, the city's public safety director, said Monday that White had "reached out to mental health" in September but there was “nothing that would put him on suicide watch.â€
White had been jailed there for 31 months as he awaited trial in a murder case. He was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of assault in April 2021. He was accused of fatally shooting Chuwn Curtis, 24, in the Walnut Park East neighborhood of ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Two women were also shot but survived.
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White's mother Vanessa Matthews and wife Pamela White told the Post-Dispatch on Monday morning that they want an outside investigation into how White died.
Matthews confirmed that her son was not on suicide watch, and they are skeptical that he would have killed himself.Â
"As much as he loved his family, I don't see him doing that," Matthews said. "His whole hopes and dreams were coming home to his family."
White was a father of four. Pamela White said she last spoke with her husband Friday.
"He had his ups and downs," she said. "He wanted to come home."
The City Justice Center, where suspects are held before trial, has long faced criticism. The jail saw several inmate uprisings in 2021 over what inmates called “inhumane conditions.†The facility has seen several deaths in recent years, including three within two months earlier this summer.
Last week, city officials announced a new health care provider for the facility. Florida-based Physician Correctional USA began a one-year contract on Friday, taking over from bankrupt prison health care giant Corizon and a related company, YesCare.
Also last week, after more than a year of being turned away, the city’s jail oversight board made its first official visit to the downtown jail, where they had their first in-person meeting with Corrections Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah.
Coyle, the public safety director, said Monday that police and the medical examiner's office are investigating White's death.Â
“We’re looking into this,†he said. “We have a lot of unanswered questions.â€
Coyle noted that about a quarter of the deaths at the downtown jail since 2000 have been suicides.Â
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones expressed condolences to the man’s family and said any death in the jail is “concerning.â€
“We are unsure as to whether or not it could have been prevented,†she said. Jones also reiterated her confidence in Clemons-Abdullah's leadership.Â
Jones and Coyle spoke with reporters Monday after the opening session of a week-long series of regional meetings aimed at reducing homicides and other violent crime.
Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.