PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Twenty-six-year-old Dante Majeroni was in maximum security at the Cumberland County Jail on several charges including aggravated assault and domestic violence criminal threatening.
The Cumberland County Sheriff's office reports guards on Tuesday found Majeroni hanging by one of his bedsheets around 10:30 p.m., unresponsive.
Majeroni was rushed to Maine Medical Center, where his family held an all-day vigil Wednesday inside his hospital room.
According to the sheriff’s office, it was the second time in as many weeks that Majeroni had attempted to take his life.
Dante Majeroni had been in and out of corrections facilities since he was 15. His family told NEWS CENTER he was a very troubled young man — they allege he was molested when he was five and suffered from severe mental illness, for which he had no medication, no counseling, no help.
They told NEWS CENTER on Wednesday that they blame the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office for "not" helping him enough, while the sheriff's office contends they did all that they could.
"They needed more mental health facility. We really needed that because a lot of people suffer for that."
Natalini Majeroni, originally from Chile, said she was the last person to speak with her son on the phone Tuesday night before he hanged himself.
Outside Maine Medical Center, she and her daughters explained that it was not the first time he had talked about it. "He said he wanted to, he didn't want to do it anymore, that he wanted to kill himself, that he was done."
What prompted NEWS CENTER to do this story was hearing about Dante's past trouble; as his sister, Stephanie says, PTSD, depression, severe mental illness.
"I would just like to know how this was possible in their facility. I want to know why didn't they check on him, he was previously on suicide watch, why didn't they keep a closer eye on him, how is this possible and why did it take them 30 minutes to find him?"
“We're nationally accredited so the standard suggests a minimum of 30, so the guards check every 30 minutes.” Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce says while an investigation is underway, his crew did everything right.
The jail has just three suicide watch cells, and every day, an increasing population with mental health issues.
"But we will look at everything to say ok what else could we do to save a life because this is someone's son, brother, and I want to make sure that we do everything that we possibly can, unfortunately if somebody wants to take their life or try to take their life, there's only so much we can do."
Stephanie Majeroni says she and her family want others to learn from Dante to find a way to reach and help troubled family members..in time.
"It's a crisis and we just want everyone to know the awareness of mental health and that the system, it doesn't work for everybody."
A distraught Natalini Majeroni added, "Mental illness is a difficult thing. Very difficult. It can come for your kids, your neighbors, it can come for everybody, parents. You never know. Please pay attention in that."
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office says it plans a thorough investigation of what happened. It’s the second suicide attempt at that jail in five years.
Last April, 24-year-old inmate Nikco Walton died inside the jail. It was ruled an accidental drug death.