Boonville inmate commits suicide

A man up for parole next month killed himself over the weekend at the Boonville Correctional Center.

Jason Randall McCoy, 31, of St. Joseph was found dead in a utility closet, Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Hauswirth said.

McCoy had been incarcerated since Jan. 31 and was serving a five-year sentence from Buchanan County for drug possession. He was supposed to be released Sept. 4. McCoy also faced felony drug charges from Nebraska, but Hauswirth did not believe those charges were going to affect his parole.

"It’s our belief he would have been released on the fourth," Hauswirth said.

This is the first death at the Boonville Correctional Center this year and the first suicide in a decade. In 1996, three offenders, including one housed at the Madison County Jail, committed suicide.

In Missouri last year, eight inmates committed suicide, including one in the Clay County Jail and one under the care of federal officials.

Missouri houses on average 30,000 inmates a day.

Both the state and the Boonville Correctional Center are investigating the death. "Obviously, this is something we don’t take lightly," Hauswirth said. "We feel for the family."

Ron Schmitz, superintendent at the Boonville Correctional Center, declined to comment.