State probes 2 suicides at Midstate Correctional Facility
The state is investigating two recent inmate suicides at Midstate Correctional Facility in Marcy, state officials said today.
A lieutenant has been placed on paid administrative leave in connection with the investigation, said Erik Kriss, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services.
Within the last two weeks, one inmate hanged himself with a bed sheet and another cut himself with an altered state safety razor blade, Kriss said.
Kriss said inmates frequently find ways to alter standard items issued in prison to make them dangerous.
"We do our best to stop it and confiscate it and clamp down on it, but it happens," he said.
The inmates who committed suicide are:
* Eugene Greco, a 46-year-old former state correction officer who was found lying in his bed, surrounded by blood Tuesday morning, Kriss said. Greco had cut his neck and left forearm with the razor blade, he said. Greco was housed in the protective custody unit, which is for inmates who are deemed to be unsafe to be in with the general population, Kriss said.
He was last seen alive around 10 a.m. Tuesday, and he was pronounced dead shortly after 11 a.m. in the unit, he said.
Greco was serving a 6- to 12-year sentence for promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child and possession of a sexual performance by a child. He arrived at the facility in July of 2006. The crimes were committed in Sullivan County, Kriss said.
* Phillip Kedaru, 31, was found the afternoon of Aug. 30 hanging from a bed sheet that was attached to the cell door window grate, Kriss said. Prison staff cut the sheet with a knife and unsuccessfully attempted to revive him, Kriss said.
He was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center where he was pronounced dead shortly before 5 p.m., he said. Kedaru was last seen alive at 3:30 p.m. by a correction officer who was making security rounds.
Kedaru's cell was in a special housing unit for prisoners with a variety of discipline issues, Kriss said. Inmates in that unit are confined to their cells for much of the day, he said.
He was serving a 2½- to 7½- year sentence for second-degree grand larceny in New York County, Kriss said. He came to the facility in August of 2006.
State police, the state Commission on Corrections and the state Department of Correctional Services are investigating, he said.
In both deaths, prison officials followed standard procedures, Kriss said, including use of an automated external defibrillators.
Lt. Gregory Lawrence has been placed on paid administrative leave in connection with the investigation, Kriss said. He could not elaborate on the reasons for the leave, but said the Department of Correctional Services is conducting an internal investigation into the matter.