An inmate in the Arapahoe County jail hanged himself with a bed sheet and died Aug. 29, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The inmate was identified as Jeffrey Wayne Purcella, 21.
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility deputies found Purcella with a sheet wrapped around his neck and tethered a structure in his cell while making routine rounds. Purcella was last seen alive by other inmates about 40 minutes earlier, according to a press release.
Deputies performed CPR on Purcella, but were unable to revive him.
As part of the investigation, deputies will visit with people who Purcella talked with in the last few weeks, said Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
He was taken from the jail in Centennial to Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, where he was pronounced dead.
Purcella had been in jail since March 3, 2008, on $50,000 bond. He had been accused of kidnapping and sexual assault.
Purcella is the second inmate to kill himself this year. On Feb. 15, murder suspect Roberto Silva, 54, jumped to his death from the second floor walkway of a cellblock.
