The death of aMarion County Jail inmateseveral months agowas listed as a suicide. An internal affairs report by Marion County Sheriff's Inspector Sgt. Roselynn Collazo states "there were no violations of operational directives" and notes that detention staff and medical personnel "responded quickly and appropriately."
But the case still raises somequestions. Why weren't security cameras in the cell area working? How did no other inmates in the area notice what was happening before it was too late? Since the inmate,Mark Anthony Francis Benedetto,had twice before been on suicide watch at the jail during previous stays, why wasn't he so designated this time?
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One of the deceased inmate's brothers isn't satisfied with what he has learned.
"I feel it's negligence. They could've saved him. The job of the guard is to sit there and watch that camera and they didn't do that,"Kevin Benedetto said.
It started with an arrest on Jan. 17
Mark Benedetto was arrested at 12:31 p.m. on Jan. 17. The charges:grand theft of a motor vehicle and possession of marijuana less than 20 grams. Benedetto was booked into the jail at 12:57 p.m.
An internal affairs probe at the jail showed that Benedetto was present for headcount at 6 a.m. the next day and was in bed at 6:30 a.m. At 7 a.m., he was in a dayroom area and at 7:30 a.m. on his bed.
Half an hour later, Benedetto was found hanging from a sheet that was tied around his neck and secured to a bunkin aholding areaknown as Bravo section. The holding section where Benedetto was found is a temporary housing area where inmates are detained before goingto first appearance or sent to a pod.
There were six other inmates in the holding area with Benedetto. Each said he did not see anything.
Checks every 30 minutes
Detention Deputy Howard Cromwell told a detective investigating the death that he checked the booking holding area every 30 minutes. He said Benedetto was the only inmate awake when he did his 7 and 7:30 a.m. checks. Cromwell said there were no problems in the area during his checks.
Cromwell said when he checked the area at 8 a.m., he noticed Benedetto's body was toward the bunk bed. He said the victim's stomach was facing the ground, hisarms were by his sides, and hewas in a kneeling position. Benedetto's head was hanging from a bed sheet that was attached to the bunk bed, according to Cromwell.
The detention deputy called for help. A colleague came and cut the sheet. CPR was performed until a nursearrived. Paramedics transported the victim to Ocala Regional Medical Center.
When Benedetto arrived at the hospital and personnel were removing his clothing, they found a plastic bag with a white string tied around his scrotum. Inside the plastic bag was an off-white,solid substance. It tested negative for drugs. No one is sure what the substance was or why it was there.
Benedetto was brain dead on Jan. 23 and died three days later. On Jan. 28, a Medical Examiner's report list the cause of death as anoxic encephalopathy and asphyxia via ligature hanging. Themanner of death: suicide.
6 other inmates; no one saw anything
Detective Daniel Pinder interviewed three of the other inmates and jail Investigator Nathan McClain interviewed the others. The inmates wereCharles Brown Jr.,Christopher Grubber,Jon Hite,Franky Leyva-Morales,Theodore Robersonand Danzell Simpkins.
Brown, Gruber, Hite and Simpkins remain at the jail. Reporters are not allowed in the jail due to COVID-19 restrictions, so the Star-Banner could not interview them.Leyva-Morales and Roberson have been released;however, Leyva-Moralescouldn't be reached for comment.
Reached by phone, Roberson told a Star-Banner reporter that he was sleeping on the morning in question. He said he woke up when he heard "the commotion."'
"When I woke up, he was dead," Roberson said.
Roberson said "no one else was awake" at the time of the incident, either.
"He (Benedetto) was acting normal like everyone else," he said.
From Pinder's report: One of the inmates, whose bed was above Benedetto's, said he didn't have any problems with Benedetto. A second inmate said Benedetto was "laughing and joking" hours earlier. He said the man did not mention anything about taking his life. A third inmate said Benedetto traded him his eggs for a milk. Thatinmate said Benedetto "seemed normal" and calledthe suicide "unexpected."
From McLain's report:One of the inmates said the night before, he and Benedetto talked. He saidthe man told him he saw "spirits," and a "man in the window" in another cell. The inmate said Benedetto told him he normally doesn't sleep well, but overnight he had a good night's sleep.
During breakfast, the same inmate said, he noticed Benedetto's sheets were missing. He said he asked Benedetto about the sheets. Benedetto didn't answer him.
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A second inmate said he was asleepand only woke up when the detention deputy entered the cell. A third inmate said he didn't see anything.
"Therewere multiple people in the cell and no one saw or heard anything?That's weird," Kevin Benedetto said. He has a hard time believing that everyone was asleep and no one saw anything. He himself has been held in that part of the jail in the past and is familiar with the layout.
A psychological history; twice before on jail suicide watch
According to records that are part of the investigation, Benedetto had a psychological history that includedbipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Records reviewed by the detectives show Benedetto had been on suicide watch at the jail during two previous stays: Dec. 29, 2017 and Jan. 13, 2018. The reason for the first suicide watch wasn't explained in the report viewed by the detectives. The second suicide watch was ordered because Benedetto, at the time, had "expressed thoughts of suicide to jail staff."
Sheriff's Office officials said whenever someone is taken into custody and transported to the jail, that individual is given a physical and mental screening.
On this last trip to the jail, Benedetto's screeningdid not reflect any signs that he should be placed on suicide watch. The Sheriff's Office said prior placements on suicide watch do not affect how an inmate is classified on a subsequent trip to the jail.
Kevin Benedetto saidhis brother didhave some medical issues, but doesn't think he would end his life.
"He wasn't ready to go. I talked with him before he got arrested and he wanted to go to St. Louis," Benedetto said.
He said his brother was involved in the community, worshipped as a member of Living Waters Church, and for a few years ministered to the homeless with another faith-based organization.
"He did things to better the world," Kevin Benedetto said.
Cameras were not working
A report fromjail investigatorMcLain notes that the security camera in the part of the jail where Benedetto was held had been offlinesince 8:15 a.m. the prior day. It has since been fixed. Afaulty part had to be replaced.
If the camera had been working on the day of Benedetto's death, would it have made a difference?
Sheriff's Office officials don't think so. They said the camera provides "a wide-angletype view to encompass the entire holding area." An inmate like Benedetto could be out of view.
"It may have been somethingwe could have seen afterwards," a spokesman said.
The spokesman said guardsin that area "are directly watching the inmates and doing their routine checks, but not watching the cameras." He added that"it doesn’t look like it is something where it is continually monitored," the way apassagewayoran exit door would be.
Deputies said regular checks continue to be done at 30-minute intervals. Inmates considered to be suicide risks are"checked more frequently and closely," at 15-minute intervals.
Also, wheninmates areon suicide watch, items such as sheets are not not given to them.
"While we can always work to improve on what we do day in and day out, the examiners found that we already had the proper policies in place and did not recommend changing those," the spokesman said.
A troubling past at the Marion County Jail
Three years ago, there were fivedeaths at the county jail.The deaths wereinvestigated by the Sheriff’s Office or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Four of the five were classified assuicides. The other was ruled a homicide and an inmate was charged with murder. A jail detention deputy was disciplined for the death.
In the wake of those deaths,Sheriff Billy Woodsbrought in three national expertsto examine jail operations, but the review did not result in any major policy changes.
In 2018, the latest year for which full national statistics are available, there were 1,120 deaths in U.S. jails, according to the U.S. Justice Department. That was nearly 2% more than 2017 and the highest number since 2000, when the Bureau of Justice Statistics started tracking that metric.
"Suicide remained the single leading cause of death in local jails in 2018, accounting for almost 30% of deaths," the bureau wrote in a report published last month. The next highest leading causes were heart diseaseand drug/alcohol intoxication.
On Tuesday, the County Commissionapproved arequest to have a contractor upgrade the jail's video surveillance network. The project is expected to cost nearly $1 million.
According to background information for the project, the present equipment "has exceeded its useful life and is in need of replacement."
Sheriff's Office officials saidthe camera improvement project has been in the worksfor a couple of years. They said the plan is to replace and upgrade the entire system, making it "more functional and efficient."
Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.
