An inmate at Southern State Correctional Facility killed himself on Friday night.
Nicholas Lynch, 37, met with mental health staff about anxiety related to contact with “bad people in the outside world.”
Lynch was put in a single person cell Friday in a segregated unit at the facility, according to a press release from the Vermont State Police. That day, correctional officers found Lynch in his cell at 6:44 p.m. He had apparently hanged himself and was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m., according to a press release from the Vermont Department of Corrections.
A preliminary investigation by the Vermont State Police, staff at Southern State and the Office of the Medical Examiner found there is no suspicion of foul play.
The health services director for the Vermont Department of Corrections will conduct a review, according to the corrections department.
Lynch was serving a sentence of 21 months to five years for sale of heroin, attempting to elude, careless and negligent operation, disorderly conduct, unlawful trespass felony, unlawful trespass occupied and violations of conditions of release. His minimum sentence was July 4, 2017, and his maximum was March 22, 2022. He was returned to Southern State on Feb. 11 for negligent operation of a motor vehicle, officials said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Inmate at Vermont prison takes own life.