Was Adam Howe's jail observation adequate? Critics say suicide could have been prevented
Was Adam Howe's jail observation adequate? Critics say suicide could have been prevented
Frank Mulligan
Standard Times
Published Oct 5, 2022
NEW BEDFORD — A man being held for his mother's murder in Ash Street Jail who died by suicide Sunday should have been under constant observation, according to an attorney with prisoner advocacy group, Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts.
James Pingeon, litigation director for PLSMA, said the level of observation taken by the Bristol County Sheriff's Office at Ash Street on Adam Howe where he was visually checked every 15 minutes was inadequate given the situation.
"This is a man who clearly was in a very vulnerable position. The main problem with what they did was the 15-minute watch. He should have been on constant observation, which is the standard practice for people on mental health watch. There are different levels of supervision. Constant observation is one that is used routinely. In my opinion, it should have been done in his case."
According to a 2018 report by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, 16 inmates had killed themselves in the jails located in North Dartmouth and New Bedford during the preceding 12 years. The jails at the time held 13 percent of the state's county inmates, but accounted for more than 25% of county jail suicides, according to the report.
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According to a release issued by the Sheriff's Office, "After his arrest on murder charges Friday night, Mr. Howe was transported by Mass. State Police to Cape Cod Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Medical professionals at Cape Cod Hospital examined Mr. Howe and cleared him to return to custody. He was then transported by Mass. State Police to the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford on Saturday afternoon.
"Despite being cleared by Cape Cod Hospital, Ash Street Jail supervisors took the proactive step and placed Mr. Howe on a security watch in which a corrections officer would visually check on him every 15 minutes. Mr. Howe was also clothed in a nylon rip-resistant smock similar to a Ferguson Safety Smock."
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The release stated that, "On Sunday afternoon, in between officer rounds, Mr. Howe clogged his airways with wet toilet paper and suffered a medical emergency. He was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Mass. State Police assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office are investigating. No cause of death has been determined yet.
"Out of respect for the family, we have no additional comment or details. That family has been through a lot this weekend; please keep them in your prayers."
Why was Adam Howe sent to Ash Street Jail?
The manner in which Adam Howe ended up in Ash Street Jail instead of the medium security Bridgewater State Hospital is also problematic, Pingeon said.
According to Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe's Office, police were called to a Truro home Friday night for a well-being check and on reports of a fire.
Adam Howe was outside the house and there was a fire on the front lawn that turned out to be his mother Susan Howe's remains when they arrived.
Howe ran into the home but was eventually arrested by the Cape Cod Regional SWAT Team.
According to the DA's office, Howe had difficulty breathing, and was transported to Cape Cod Hospital arriving there at approximately 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
Previous reporting:
- Sheriff's office: Jail placed man accused of killing his mother in Truro on security watch
- Body found on fire outside Truro home, and suspect arrested. What we know
He was shackled to a gurney after being examined and being watched by hospital personnel with eyes on him at all times, according to the DA's office.
With him in the room were Massachusetts State Police and security personnel from the hospital. The hospital wanted to have him discharged as soon as practical and efforts were made to contact a secure facility to take him, according to the DA's office.
An on-call judge was reached at about 3 a.m. "and she listened to the physician in charge of the emergency room and to the District Attorney, and issued an order under Section 12 of Chapter 123. The District Attorney then contacted Bridgewater to apprise them of the Judge’s order and the Judge’s willingness to speak with them directly.
Bridgewater refused to take Mr. Howe saying they didn’t take Section 12 commitments. They would only take someone committed under Section 18," according to the DA's office.
"The State Police then contacted jails to see who would take Mr. Howe. Section 18 of Chapter 123 provides for a House of Correction to move for a Bridgewater commitment.
The Ash Street Jail, part of the Bristol County House of Correction System, agreed to take him and he was discharged from Cape Cod Hospital and transported to the Ash Street Jail."
He was transferred with "his discharge summary from Cape Cod Hospital and a police report of the incident resulting in his mother’s death. Both of which indicated suicidal ideation," according to the DA's office. Howe was found dead in his cell at approximately 5:14 p.m. Sunday.
A Section 12 vs. a Section 18
Pingeon said it was obvious that Howe should have been sent to Bridgewater State Hospital but "it seemed like no one knew how to get him there."
Section 12 is used to commit people who would otherwise be in the community, he said.
That clearly wasn't Howe. "This guy wasn't going to be in the community given his charges. He was going to be held somewhere, whether a police station overnight or a jail or whatever. Any of those places had the power to petition under section 18."
Pingeon said section 18 applies to any place of detention, including police stations.
He added, "And Bristol County does it all the time. They send people to Bridgewater under 18."
Sheriff candidate Paul Heroux criticizes Howe's care
Asked for comment on the jail suicide, Hodgson's opponent in the current race for Bristol County Sheriff, Paul Heroux stated, "This is a tragic situation of an inmate who is clearly mentally ill who was in the custody of Sheriff Hodgson. This is another example of mismanagement. It is clear that Hodgson has failed again to keep the people in his custody safe as our jail has the worst rate of inmate suicide in the state under Hodgson.
Earlier this year:ACLU releases Know Your Sheriff campaign survey results. Why Hodgson did not participate.
"The principal job of the sheriff is to keep the public safe, and to keep the inmates in the sheriff's custody safe. As heinous as the accused's crime is, the job of the sheriff is to make sure that everyone is brought to justice when awaiting trial or serves a sentence when convicted of a crime.
"Despite his self-promoting rhetoric, people are not safe under Sheriff Hodgson. It is time for change. That's why I'm running."
Hodgson says criticism is purely political
Hodgson responded, "Only a professional politician like Paul Heroux would attempt to capitalize on a tragic death. It is unfortunate Mr. Heroux put politics ahead of facts. This prisoner was cleared for custody by health care professionals at Cape Cod Hospital. Additionally, the Sheriff's Office was not notified that the prisoner 1) was ordered by a judge to a secure mental health facility; and 2) was turned down admission to the secure mental health facility.
"Under my leadership, the Bristol County correctional facility has received back-to-back 100% scores on national accreditation inspections from the American Corrections Association and also holds national accreditation by the National Commission on Corrections Health Care. We strive every day to keep the public and inmates safe. That’s why I have received every police endorsement.
"Mr. Heroux doesn’t have the qualifications or the experience to run the correctional facilities. He over inflates his resume. The people of Bristol County want a Sheriff who will put public safety first, not a professional politician who uses tragedies to score political points."
Exclusive: Three people die in 8 weeks at Barnstable County jail. Here's what we know
Published Sept 2, 2022
BOURNE — Three people incarcerated at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility died within roughly two months this summer, District Attorney Michael O’Keefe confirmed on Friday.
David J. Allain, 30, died on June 16. He was incarcerated at the facility on alleged drug charges, as well as charges related to an alleged escape attempt involving arson, according to court records. All charges against Allain were dismissed after his death.
O’Keefe said evidence was discovered in Allain’s cell that suggests drugs could have played a part in his death, but his cause of death won’t be known until the medical examiner’s office releases an autopsy and toxicology report, which can take up to six months.
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“There was some evidence collected that caused at least an inquiry to be made with respect to whether or not some drugs might have been involved,” O’Keefe said. “We'll know more when we have the (toxicology report) and the autopsy.”
In an obituary, loved ones said Allain will be remembered for his sense of humor and for his love of fishing, skiing and the ocean.
The second and third deaths at Barnstable County Correctional Facility, which are being investigated as apparent deaths by suicide, according to O’Keefe, occurred last month.
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On Aug. 18, emergency medical services workers with the Bourne Fire Department twice responded to 6000 Sheriff’s Place in Buzzards Bay to bring patients to Falmouth Hospital, according to Deputy Fire Chief Paul Weeks. The first transport was made at 1:13 a.m., he said. The second transport, of a different patient, was made at 2:55 p.m. the same day.
O’Keefe said one person transported from the jail died on Aug. 18, while the other person died on Aug. 19. O’Keefe declined to share their names.
All three deaths are being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police detectives unit attached to O’Keefe’s office.
One corrections officer under investigation for violating jail policy
O’Keefe said the people who died on Aug. 18 and 19 showed no signs of suicidal ideation, and that corrections officers were supposed to check on them every 30 minutes — the longest time between checks allowed in the jail. Incarcerated people who sheriff's staff determine need more monitoring could be watched by corrections officers constantly or could receive checks every 15 minutes.
“That's the reporting that we have thus far,” O’Keefe said. “But as I say, those matters remain under investigation.”
The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the corrections officer assigned to monitor one of the people who died in August for violations of internal jail protocols, O’Keefe said.
The corrections officer assigned to monitor the other person who died in August was found by the Massachusetts State Police — whose detectives apparently viewed surveillance footage from the jail and conducted interviews — to have followed internal jail protocols “prior to and after the decedent was found unresponsive,” according to O’Keefe.
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“Certainly it is (Sheriff James Cummings’) responsibility to look into all of these instances, to make a determination as to whether or not the policies were followed,” he said. “In one of the incidents, it became apparent that the policies weren't followed, and therefore, there is an internal investigation which includes, ultimately, hearings.”
O’Keefe declined to share the names of either corrections officer. Cummings said by email on Friday that he was unavailable to speak because he was traveling, and would respond to questions from the Times next week.
Is this number of deaths unusual in Massachusetts county jails?
This isn't the first time multiple people incarcerated at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility have died by suicide within a short time period.
In 2017, two incarcerated people died by suicide at the jail within a roughly one-month span. According to reporting from the time, only three other suicides had occurred there in the previous 13 years. Neither of the people was on suicide watch, despite the fact that one of them — a mother of two — had written a "desperate note" to jail staff the day before her death, the Times reported.
The estate of the woman who wrote the note, Jessica DiCesare, alleged in a lawsuit against the sheriff's office and the third-party vendor which handles mental health cases at the jail that staff ignored warning signs of her mental health issues. DiCesare was awaiting a hearing on charges of receiving stolen property, driving uninsured and without a license and possession of class C and E drugs when she died.
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Deaths in county jails like the one run by Cummings since 1999 are not tracked by the state, and the number of deaths that Massachusetts sheriffs reported to the federal Department of Justice were found to be lower than the actual number of deaths that occurred on their watch, according to a 2020 investigation by WBUR.
WBUR found that 195 people died in the custody of Massachusetts sheriffs from 2008 to 2018. Of those, 127 died of medical causes such as heart disease, sepsis or drug overdoses. Most of the rest died by suicide, WBUR reported.
The Worcester County jail came under federal scrutiny in 2007, when the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division investigated the facility after what it called an "alarming" number of suicides there. A 2008 letter from then-Acting Assistant Attorney General Grace Chung Becker to then-Gov. Deval Patrick stated that, in 2005, three inmates died by suicide within six months at the Worcester County jail.
The letter listed a number of deficiencies in the mental health assessments and care provided by the Worcester County jail, and documented brutality by guards and the overuse of restraints and segregation.
Deaths at Barnstable County jail are worrying
ACLU Massachusetts Field Director Laura Rotolo said the number of deaths at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility this summer is worrying.
"Even one custodial death is too many, but a string of deaths over a short time period at any single facility raises serious questions about whether the sheriff's department is providing appropriate conditions at that facility,” Rotolo said in a statement. “Sheriffs make decisions every day that impact the lives of those in their care and custody and, as elected officials, they are ultimately accountable to the voters.”
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Cummings announced last year that he would not seek reelection after serving more than two decades as Barnstable County’s sheriff. Falmouth attorney Donna Buckley, a Democrat, and state Rep. Timothy Whelan, R-Brewster, are running for the position.
If you need help
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 988.
Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To speak with a trained listener, text HELLO to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can also the Bay Cove Crisis Hotline at 1-833-229-2683. For more information about suicide prevention and how you can help, visit https://www.suicideispreventable.net/.
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