After Release Fax Fails, Inmate Commits Suicide

Joshua Miles should have been out of jail last week. Instead, because a release fax failed to transmit the day prior, the 36-year-old remained at South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., where he is believed to have committed suicide. Miles was found unresponsive in his cell early on Thursday and was later pronounced dead, despite medical assistance from jail officials, according to the state's Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. An investigation pointed to suicide, though officials have released no other details regarding his death, reports the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

A day earlier, a Kanawha County magistrate had tried to fax a release order for Miles to the jail, where he had been placed on Feb. 27; he had allegedly violated the terms of the sentence he received after pleading guilty last year to violating a domestic violence protective order. However, the fax failed to go through, per a "communication result report." That report was placed in Miles' case file in Kanawha Magistrate Court; it's unclear if anyone reviewed the printout before filing it. A DMAPS rep says there's no sign that Miles' release status had a role in his death, reports WVAH. Officials continue to investigate. (More West Virginia stories.)