A Rio Arriba County Jail inmate who had been incarcerated for allegedly selling his family’s Christmas presents hung himself in jail the day after Christmas, according to the Sheriff’s department.
Samuel Jaramillo, 22, was found hanging in a cell from a shoelace tied to the corner of a bunk bed Dec. 26 at around 7:45 p.m., deputy James Lujan said. Corrections officer Ester DeYapp was making rounds of the facility when she discovered Jaramillo, pulled him down and attempted CPR until paramedics arrived, Lujan said.
Jaramillo’s feet were touching the floor of the cell when he was found, Lujan said.
“To me it seemed like he really meant to do it,” Lujan said.
Jaramillo had been removed from the general population of the jail because of an incident with other inmates and brought up to the booking area of the facility before the incident, County Manager Lorenzo Valdez said. For about an hour, he was in the booking area, conversing with the corrections officers, taking a shower and relaxing, Valdez said. He was placed in one of the holding cells and was going to be put back in general population at some point, Valdez said.
“There was no indication that the young man was a suicide risk,” Valdez said.
After interviewing seven inmates Jaramillo was in contact with before his death, Lujan came to the same conclusion that Jaramillo gave no indication of wanting to take his own life. Each of the seven inmates and all of the guards Lujan interviewed said Jaramillo made no mention of wanting to commit suicide, Lujan said.
In the booking area, there was an incident in which Jaramillo locked himself in a staff bathroom usually off-limits to inmates, Lujan said. After that Jaramillo was put in the individual cell, and about 90 minutes later, he was found dead.
Valdez said he had no knowledge of the staff bathroom incident, and believed it was just minutes, less than a half an hour, he speculated, between the time Jaramillo was last seen alive and when his body was discovered.
Had Jaramillo been on suicide watch, he would have been checked on every 20 minutes, Valdez said, though until the deputy’s final report is produced, it won’t be clear whether Jaramillo was left alone for more or less time than that.
Valdez said he is not certain whether inmates typically are allowed to keep their own shoes, or are issued footwear. Jail Administrator Bidal Candelardia declined to comment for this story, referring all questions to Valdez.
Jaramillo’s father Simon Jaramillo, of Lyden, called police at 1:15 p.m. on Christmas eve to report that his son took a car without permission and sold presents inside valued at over $250, according to State Police records. An officer took a larceny report but was not able to find Jaramillo until around 3 p.m. that day, when his father called back to say the young man was at the house. At that point, Jaramillo was arrested, dispatch logs state, although police were not able to say what charges, if any, were brought against him.
Deputy J.B. Turner was tasked with notifying Simon and Adelaida Jaramillo of their son’s death the night of Dec. 26.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jaramillo had no idea that anyone would be telling them that kind of news at that time of night,” Turner said. “It was pretty heartbreaking — just a tragedy.”