State inmate kills self after mental health testimony

MONTGOMERY - An Alabama inmate found dead in his cell apparently killed himself just weeks after testifying in a trial accusing the state of denying proper mental health care to prisoners, officials said Tuesday.

The Department of Corrections said Jamie Wallace, 24, was found dead in an apparent suicide five days earlier. He was found hanged in his cell at the Bullock County prison, about 45 miles southeast of Montgomery.

On Dec. 5, at the opening of a federal trial over mental health treatment in state prisons, Wallace described having multiple psychiatric disorders and claimed a prison officer once offered him a razor to use to kill himself. He also testified he had tried to hang himself at least once before.

Wallace, who pleaded guilty to killing his mother in 2009, told a prison attorney during cross-examination that he was only seen by mental health professionals after he had been put in a cell meant for inmates with acute problems.

Read more: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20161220/state-inmate-kills-self-after-mental-health-testimony