The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that a female inmate who had been on suicide watch at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center died of an apparent suicide.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Jeremy Blake said in a release that Nicole Smith of Atlanta was pronounced dead at 7:54 a.m. Thursday, after being taken to a hospital.
It’s the third death of a Cobb jail detainee this month, and is the second involving possible mental health issues.
Blake said Smith had been on active suicide watch and had tried to take her own life during mandatory welfare checks conducted by Sheriff’s Office personnel around the clock every 15 minutes.
He said that staffers began life-saving procedures when Smith was discovered Thursday, but he didn’t elaborate.
Blake said Smith had been receiving professional mental health support as part of a suicide prevention program at the jail.
The Sheriff’s Office is conducting an internal investigation and has asked for assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Blake said.
On May 12, Eva Kanja of Smyrna, who had been booked in late April for misdemeanor battery, died at the jail while undergoing a mental health evaluation.
On May 3, Joshua Capes of Kennesaw died at a hospital after being found unresponsive in his cell at the jail.
The causes of those death have not been revealed.
Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens began a detainee mental health program last fall. There were three jail inmate deaths in 2021, Owens’ first year in office, and he asked the GBI to conduct external probes of detainee deaths.
The first of those, in April 2021, was a man who died after attempting suicide.
“Unfortunately, our detention center—and thousands of detention centers across the country—have become de facto mental health hospitals,” Owens said in the release. “I will be convening local leaders, including those who just toured the facility, to help identify solutions and hopefully find treatment options outside of incarceration.”
The Cobb Sheriff’s Office had come under fire previously for a number of jail inmate deaths, prompting former Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes to call for an independent probe.
Among those were Kevil Wingo, who begged for medical help from jail staff and died in custody in September 2019.
The Wingo family filed a federal lawsuit against Wellstar Health system, six nurses and three sheriff’s deputies.
Related:
- Motorcyclist killed in crash at Terrell Mill Road and I-75 express lanes
- East Cobb suspected arrested after wave of home burglaries
- New Cobb Police Chief ‘humbled’ by appointment
- East Cobb man sentenced in fatal Sandy Plains Road crash
- Ex-business partner of murdered East Cobb man gets 20 years
- East Cobb man sentenced to two life terms for child molestations
- Cobb DA releases statement on Arbery murder convictions
- Former East Cobb attorney sentenced in litigation fraud scheme
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
