Jury rules Portageville prisoner's death suicide

Standard Democrat

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Steven Eugene Reid apparently ended his life after a night of concern about family relationships, heavy drinking and another arrest for driving while intoxicated.

After hearing 90 minutes of testimony about the events of Sept. 26 and 27, a coroner's jury ruled this week that Reid's death in the city jail at Portageville, Mo., was a suicide.

The five men and a woman on the coroner's jury, called by New Madrid County Coroner Tim Clayton, began their investigation the morning of Sept. 27, shortly after Reid's body was discovered in the jail cell.

Their ruling came Wednesday after a formal hearing brought together testimony from police officers, a Missouri Highway Patrol investigator and Reid's family.

Clayton presided over the hearing but also reportedon the autopsy, noting the cause of death was officially pronounced as "asphyxiation by hanging."