Washington County Jail inmate serving more than 100-year sentence fatally stabs himself in cell

1-22-2011 Oregon:

A man, convicted last month on several sex crime charges, who was already serving a 100-year prison sentence committed suicide while in custody at the Washington County Jail Friday morning.

A deputy about 11:35 a.m. discovered 40-year-old Alexander Lawrence Jay unconscious from a self-inflicted wound in his cell, said Sgt. Vance Stimler, a sheriff's office spokesman. Deputies began CPR until emergency medical units were able to arrive, but Jay was ultimately pronounced dead in his cell.

Stimler said Jay used a jail-issued pencil to stab himself in the arm and hit an artery.

Sheriff's office detectives are investigating the incident, and Jay's body was released to the medical examiner's office, both of which are standard procedure, Stimler said. Jay reportedly was held in a single cell, with a secure door.

The deputy who found Jay was interviewed Friday, and will be interviewed again, before the investigation is completed, Stimler said. Her name was not released.

Jay had been in custody since December 2009, Stimler said. He was charged in Washington County Circuit Court with nine counts of first-degree rape, nine counts of first-degree sodomy, three counts of incest, two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, four counts of fourth-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon against another and three counts of coercion, records show.

The incidents, which involved child victims, occurred between June 2001 and January 2002, according to court records.

In a bench trial, Jay was convicted of six counts of first-degree rape, seven counts of first-degree sodomy, three counts of incest and one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object. His other charges were dismissed because of statute of limitation issues, said Washington County Deputy District Attorney Paul Maloney.

Jay's sentencing for those crimes was scheduled for Friday afternoon. Maloney said he planned to ask Judge Rick Knapp to impose a prison sentence of more than 100 years, to be served after the sentence Jay received in Marion County last year.

Jay went to trial before a jury in Marion County in October. He was found guilty on all counts, which included five counts of first-degree rape, one count of unlawful sexual penetration, two counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of second-degree assault, one count of coercion, two counts of second-degree sex abuse, one count of incest and one count of delivering meth.

According to court records, those incidents, involving four victims, occurred between 2004 and 2009. He was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison on those charges.

Maloney said since Jay's Washington County conviction, his mother died of cancer and his sister overdosed on painkillers. The extent of his sister's injuries is unknown.

Stimler said jail staff had no problems with Jay while he was in custody, and he showed no signs that he was suicidal. When someone is found guilty of serious crimes, Stimler said jail staff will talk to the inmate to see if they are having suicidal thoughts and will determine if they need to talk with medical staff.

Suicides in the jail, Stimler said, are relatively rare. Strangulation is the most common method of suicide in the jail.

Stimler said the last time an inmate committed suicide was July 28, 2008. In that incident, the inmate tied part of his jumpsuit around his neck. ..Source.. by Rebecca Woolington, The Oregonian