Pubdate: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) Copyright: 2007 News-Journal Corporation Contact: http://www.news-journalonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/700 Note: gives priority to local writers Author: Scott Wyland, Staff Writer WOMAN JAILED ON DRUG CHARGE COMMITS SUICIDE DAYTONA BEACH -- A 38-year-old woman was found Thursday night hanged in her jail cell, the victim of an apparent suicide, officials said Friday. Muriel Comeau tied a shoestring to the top bunk of her cell at the Volusia County Correctional Facility and hanged herself in what is the jail's first suicide in almost six years, authorities said. Efforts to resuscitate her failed and she was pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m. The Ormond Beach woman was arrested Wednesday, charged with possession of crack cocaine. The jail's mental-health staff judged her demeanor as normal. "There was no sign that she was despondent or suicidal," said Dave Byron, spokesman for Volusia County, which runs the jail. She leaves behind a husband and a 3-year-old son, according to court records. Family members couldn't be reached for details of her personal life. Comeau has also been arrested for driving while intoxicated and simple battery. Last month, her husband, Donald, filed an injunction against her. Her suicide will be given a standard review, though no policy appears to have been violated, Byron said. Many inmates attempt suicide, partly because their life circumstances are rough and often because they are abusing drugs that depress them, Byron said. However, few succeed. The last inmate to take his own life was Lawrence Boyd, 47, in January 2001. Every inmate is screened for suicidal behavior through questions and observation of visual cues, Byron said. If inmates show suicidal signs, they are closely monitored and receive nothing they can use to hurt themselves, Byron said. They wear a paper gown and are wrapped in a special blanket too stiff to use as a noose. If no mental illness is observed, inmates get regular bedding and toiletries, and they can wear their own shoes if they're worth less than $50, Byron said. Historically, most inmates commit suicide by hanging themselves, and roughly half of all jail suicides happen in the first week of confinement, according to an Associated Press report. Comeau is the third local woman with a crack cocaine habit to kill herself in recent months. Tara Price, 29, leaped from scaffolding in July, and Raina Leigh O'Donnell, 26, jumped from a high-rise building in August. Abusing cocaine can lead to a deep depression because it floods the brain with a pleasure chemical that quickly wanes, causing an emotional plunge, said Dr. Douglas Davies, medical director at the Stewart-Marchman Center. Women who abuse cocaine are at a higher risk of suicide than men, Davies said. The jail's counselors knew Comeau had a history of drug use and minor violence, but didn't peg her as suicidal, Byron said. "This is a case when they used all of their professional judgment, and, unfortunately, the woman is dead," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom