SPARTANBURG, SC – An AED Defibrillator and a landline phone did not work after Spartanburg County Deputies’ found a woman hanged in a suicide watch cell, according to documents in a SLED report.
Ashley Harmon was arrested in June of 2015 for domestic violence, the incident report says Harmon was violent en route to the jail, spitting on deputies and kicking their patrol cars. Harmon was known to be suicidal and also have mental health disorders. Because of all these factors, deputies placed Harmon in a suicide watch cell within the Spartanburg County Detention Center.
Suicide watch requires deputies to check on inmates every 15 minutes. The SLED report says deputies did that. When they went to check on her 13 minutes later, they found her hanged by her shirt on a hinge off the wall.
Since that suicide, deputies have not used these cells because of these hinges. The detention center has now added additional security cameras and a new electronic tracking device, to show inmate’s status at all times.
The Sheriff’s office sent the AED off for testing and there were no irregularities with it. They said the phone showed no issues after the event either.
The Sheriff’s Office hopes to renovate the former suicide watch cells to be used again.
