VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — Officials say they are investigating the sixth apparent inmate suicide this year in Georgia prisons.
The Georgia Department of Corrections said in a news release that inmate Demetris Jarrod Mildton was found unresponsive in his cell at Valdosta State Prison just before noon Friday.
The agency said prison medical staff tried unsuccessfully to revive Mildton. A doctor at the prison pronounced him dead at 12:19 p.m.
Corrections officials are investigating, which is standard procedure when an inmate dies in custody.
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Mildton was serving a 10-year sentence for aggravated battery with a maximum release date of April 1.
The Department of Corrections has previously reported three apparent inmate suicides in January and two others in February. Department spokeswoman Joan Heath said in an email that one of those has been confirmed as a suicide while the investigations into the others are ongoing.
The department recorded 15 confirmed suicides last year and eight in 2016, Heath said.
The department has policies in place to instruct employees how to monitor offenders believed to be suicidal and is implementing an awareness campaign aimed at both staff and inmates, Heath said.