A state inmate found hanged in a shower cell at the Tallahatchie County Sheriff’s Sumner Work Center apparently committed suicide, Sheriff William Brewer said Monday.
Jonathan T. Bray, 25, of Baldwyn, was pronounced dead at the scene by Tallahatchie County Coroner Ginger Meriwether shortly before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12.
Meriwether said preliminary results of an autopsy performed at the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory in Pearl revealed that Bray’s death was caused by “asphyxiation due to ligature hanging.”
Brewer said Bray had fastened a belt, part of his state-issued inmate uniform, to steel bars near the shower stall, and tied it around his neck.
At about 7:45 p.m., “he had told his cellmate that he was going to take a shower,” noted Brewer, who said the work center inmates are permitted to move about freely inside the county-owned facility until about 9 p.m.
After Bray had been gone for “15 or 20 minutes,” his cellmate went to check on him, the sheriff noted, finding a shirtless but otherwise fully clothed Bray unresponsive.
“The shower was running and the curtain to the shower stall was closed,” Brewer said.
The sheriff said Bray’s cellmate yelled for the jailer, and both men administered CPR and used the facility’s portable defibrillator on him until paramedics arrived.
Brewer said Bray had no known history of mental illness, adding that he had passed both a routine psychological screening administered by Mississippi Department of Corrections personnel prior to his transfer to the Sumner Work Center on Feb. 24 this year and a similar screening conducted by officials at the work center upon his arrival there.
“His cellmate said Bray had some recent issues with personal problems, but they had talked about it and prayed about it,” noted Brewer, who said the center’s supervisor also had talked with Bray earlier and “he was laughing as if nothing was wrong.”
At the time of his death, Bray was one of 26 state inmates housed at the Sumner Work Center under the county’s agreement with MDOC for the Joint State-County Work Program, Brewer said.
“His job had been running a zero-turn lawn mower on a mowing crew that went all over the county mowing grass on public property,” the sheriff said of Bray. “He was a good worker and hadn’t had any disciplinary infractions.”
Since Bray’s death, Brewer said he has spoken with the staff and inmates at the Sumner facility, noting that some of them “were real disheartened” by the incident.
“These inmates made mistakes, but now they’re trying to pay for their mistakes,” the sheriff noted. “A lot of them are just pretty good folks.”
MDOC records show that Bray had served almost four years of a 20-year sentence for a pair of convictions, one involving burglary and larceny of an unoccupied dwelling in Itawamba County and another for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine in Tishomingo County. His tentative release date was Aug. 4, 2031.
As standard procedure, Brewer said he notified the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation about Bray’s death and that agency has investigated. He said he has yet to receive word of their findings.
However, the sheriff said there were no apparent signs of foul play surrounding Bray’s death.
Inmates housed at the Sumner Work Center engage in valuable services ranging from riding county garbage trucks and picking up roadside litter to mowing grass and performing upkeep and maintenance on county courthouses and other public facilities, including school buildings, fire houses, voting precinct sites and libraries.
IN THE PHOTO: Jonathan T. Bray (MDOC photo)
