Towaoc man hangs himself in Ignacio jail

Towaoc man hangs himself in Ignacio jail

December 27, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

A Towaoc man was taken off life support and died Tuesday after he had been revived from a suicide attempt Monday at the Southern Ute Detention Center in Ignacio.

Twenty-seven-year-old Sherwin Lansing was found in his jail cell hanging by pieces of a shredded bed sheet, according to Charley Flagg, director for the Department of Justice at the Southern Ute Tribe.

"He was in his cell by himself and he was actually being checked more regularly than usual — every 30 minutes," Flagg explained.

"He had been in a minor scuffle with another inmate on Sunday, so he was put in a segregation cell. They (officers) gave him his medications and talked to him shortly before 10 o’clock Monday evening.

"They went back just under 30 minutes later to do another check on him and that’s when they found him hanging."

Detention officers administered CPR and were able to get a pulse and breath, Flagg said.

"The EMTs got him transported into Mercy Medical and my understanding is that after he had been in there a while, they basically said he was brain-dead and said he couldn’t survive without life support, so the family made the decision to remove him from life support on Christmas Day."

Lansing was being held on a $50,000 bond in the Southern Ute Detention Center since Oct. 24 on multiple charges including assault and battery, sexual assault and child abuse, Flagg said. The case was also under review by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible federal charges. The case was still pending.

Flagg explained that, because of sentencing restrictions on tribal courts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office typically takes a look at charges that would be felonies in state court. Under the Indian Civil Rights Act, tribal courts are limited as to the amount of punishment they can impose.