A man apparently managed to hang himself in a holding cell at the Dormont police station despite the fact that a desk officer was stationed mere feet away and had access to constant video surveillance of the cell.
John J. Walker, 45, of Dormont was found unresponsive in his cell Wednesday about 8:54 p.m., roughly 75 minutes after he was placed there following an arrest for domestic violence.
Dormont Police Chief Russell McKibben said Walker was discovered with a sock wrapped around his neck that was threaded through the steel mesh of the cell door about four feet off the ground. He was found in a squatting position by the desk officer, whom McKibben would not identify.
The events leading to Walker's death began at 6:41 p.m., when Dormont police were called to a home in the 1700 block of Potomac Avenue that Walker sometimes shared with his girlfriend of seven years, Angel White.
McKibben said officers learned that Walker had been drinking since noon and had threatened to "twist" White's head off.
Mt. Lebanon and Green Tree provided backup, and six officers from the three departments converged on the house. McKibben said they had to physically restrain Walker.
He was transported to the nearby police station at Hillsdale Avenue at 7:14 p.m. and placed alone in the cell with nothing on but his socks and underwear, McKibben said.
Walker was in cell No. 1, the first of four cells that contain a fluorescent light, metal toilet and cot. The cells are arranged in a line, with Walker's cell closest to the door separating them from the desk officer.
From Walker's cell, it is a matter of several steps to the door, which has a glass window and blinds that McKibben said are open when a prisoner is in custody.
Two video cameras are trained on the cells, and McKibben said when he arrived at the police station, the monitor had a close-up of Walker's cell on screen.
McKibben said the desk officer -- technically a member of the fire department -- is required to check on prisoners at least once every half-hour. A handwritten log initialed by the desk officer indicates that the officer looked in on Walker at 8:30 p.m., 24 minutes before calling 911 to report him hanging.
At this stage of the investigation, McKibben said, there was not anything to indicate wrongdoing on the part of his staff. He said it would be difficult for the desk officer to see what Walker was doing, especially since Walker's back was to the camera.
McKibben said the desk officer had brought out a space heater for Walker, positioning it just outside his cell. It would make sense, McKibben said, that Walker would have been near the cell door to get warm.
Walker's son, Albert, 21, called his father's death a "tragedy." Both he and White, 35, said they could not imagine Walker talking his own life.
White said she wanted Walker's death thoroughly investigated even though he had punched her 14-year-old son Wednesday and was arrested for beating up her friend last month.
"It's been a rough ride, but he was still a good guy," White said.
First Published: February 25, 2005, 5:00 a.m.