Bollinger County jail suicide victim recently hospitalized for cutting self

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The 55-year-old Marble Hill man who killed himself in the Bollinger County Jail early Tuesday morning had recently returned from a hospital after a failed suicide attempt, his attorney said Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau lawyer Pat McMenamin said he was shocked that Charles Daniel Hovis was not under a suicide watch. McMenamin was representing Hovis on criminal charges.

"They were about as on-notice as you could be that he was suicidal. It's ridiculous that somebody who should have been on suicide watch was able to come up with a safety razor," McMenamin said.

Sheriff Leo McElrath said Hovis was not on suicide watch because wounds he suffered on his legs last week were not life-threatening. McElrath said psychological evaluators determined Hovis was not suicidal after the incident and was instead trying to get a reprieve from confinement.

Hovis died shortly after a dispatcher found him bleeding in his cell Tuesday after he used a razor to cut his left arm in two places, McElrath said.

Hovis had returned to the jail Friday after a psychological evaluation conducted in Festus, Mo. Hovis had cut both legs with a razor issued by the jail last week, McElrath said.

The results of the evaluation weren't available to the Southeast Missourian on Wednesday.

"That particular time he kept the razor. We haven't given him a razor since," McElrath said. "He was in a different cell. He was in a drunk tank before."

Hovis was in his Bollinger County Jail cell when he used the safety razor to cut the insides of his thighs, then was transported to a Perryville, Mo., hospital, where he remained for several days after cutting his femoral artery, McMenamin said.

Hovis was lying in bed and started yelling that he was bleeding, McElrath said.

"Both of his upper thighs were bleeding. They weren't even disabling injuries," McElrath said. "They were not life-threatening."

Dr. Russell Deidiker, who performed an autopsy on Hovis on Tuesday at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington, Mo., said he did not dissect Hovis' leg wounds, so he couldn't comment on whether they were life-threatening.

After receiving treatment for the cuts on his legs, Hovis was transported to Festus for psychological evaluation. Evaluators said Hovis was not suicidal and cleared him to return to normal activity in the jail, McElrath said.

"They never gave us any indication that he was suicidal at all. We had a counselor talk to him after the cuts, too. They said it was an effort to get out to the hospital," McElrath said.

Most people would be surprised what inmates in the jail would do to be transferred to a hospital, McElrath said.

"We give them Tylenol or something for legitimate pain. They think the emergency doctors will give them something stronger," McElrath said.

It's possible Hovis brought the razor he used to kill himself into the jail when he returned from the psychological evaluation, McElrath said.

"We do what we can," McElrath said. "We're not allowed to do complete strip searches or body-cavity searches. You're talking about a man here who's not been convicted. You're limited as to what areas you can search and how you can search."

According to online court records, Hovis was in the jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on seven charges. He was accused of three felonies -- assault on a law enforcement officer, a second-degree felony, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with four misdemeanors.

A probable-cause statement said Bollinger County deputy Alan Stevens noticed a black Chevrolet Silverado traveling in the middle of Bollinger County Road 802 just before 2 a.m. April 9. Stevens attempted to stop the vehicle, which fled at a high rate of speed, the statement said.

Stevens followed the pickup, which pulled into a private drive. Hovis leaned out the driver-side window, pointed a chrome handgun at Stevens and yelled profanities, the statement said. Stevens ordered Hovis to drop the weapon out the window. Hovis complied and was then arrested.

A search of the pickup revealed hydrocodone pills, the statement said.

Hovis was originally held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail because of statements he made in a courtroom about boys being raped in the Bollinger County Jail, McMenamin said.

He was transferred to Bollinger County on May 15.

Hovis was found during a dispatcher's routine check Tuesday morning, McElrath said. Because dispatchers -- who act as jailers overnight -- are not trained police officers, they are not allowed to open the cell doors, McElrath said. The dispatchers have not been trained to deal with traumatic injury.

All the dispatcher can do is call for a deputy. One arrived from his home in about eight minutes. An ambulance transported Hovis to the hospital, where he died.

Bollinger County Coroner Charles Hutchings ruled the cause of death as a self-inflicted wound.

The coroner investigates any fatal incidents in the jail, McElrath said.

The sheriff's department is also conducting an internal investigation.

jgamm@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

202 High St., Marble Hill, MO