9:06 p.m.: UPDATE: Prison inmate kills self

By Shawn McGrath

May 07, 2008 09:07 pm

— PENDLETON — The Tuesday death of a Correctional Industrial Facility inmate has officially been ruled a suicide.
Madison County Coroner Ned Dunnichay said Wednesday 41-year-old Jeffrey L. Beemer died of asphyxiation caused by hanging, and his death had been ruled a suicide. An autopsy was performed earlier Wednesday at Ball Memorial Hospital.
A prison guard discovered Beemer in his cell at about 6 p.m. Tuesday, and began performing CPR until emergency medical responders could arrive, said Tim Horan, prison spokesman.
Horan said Beemer was pronounced dead at Saint John’s Hospital in Anderson shortly before 7:30 p.m. Horan said Beemer didn’t leave a suicide note, and there was no indication he wanted to kill himself.
“It just happened,” Horan said. “He wasn’t on any type of special watch or anything. There was no indication. It was a shock.”
Beemer was serving an 18-month sentence at the medium security prison for failing to pay child support, according to information from the Indiana Department of Correction. His earliest possible release date was Jan. 25, 2009.
When Beemer was charged for not paying child support in 2000, he owed more than $16,000 in back support. A father of three, Beemer pleaded guilty to the Class C felony charge in 2003, when the back support had increased to more $27,500, according to court documents.
Judge Fredrick Spencer sentenced Beemer to eight years probation. A Class C felony is punishable by two to eight years in prison. Beemer violated his probation several times, including testing positive for drugs and continuing to not pay child support, according to court records.