Man’s jail suicide spurs suit by mom

AUGUSTA – The mother of a Whitefield man who killed himself while being held at the Kennebec County jail has filed a lawsuit against a corrections officer and a nurse for failing to prevent the suicide.

Tammy Norton filed the suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of her son, Jason Rozell, 24, who killed himself in April 2002 by twisting a bedsheet around his neck while in a maximum-security cell.

The suicide led to an investigation of corrections procedures at the jail after it was determined that his mother had called jail officials to warn that her son was suicidal.

The Department of Corrections, the Kennebec Sheriff’s Office and the Augusta Police Department investigated the case and came up with different conclusions on who to blame for Rozell’s death.

Norton’s attorney, Walter McKee, said it took two years to research the case because there were so many aspects to explore.

“We took some time to wait and file suit in this case because we wanted to make sure we had all the information,” McKee said.

Patricia John of Vassalboro, a licensed practical nurse working at the jail through Allied Resources for Correctional Health at the time of Rozell’s death, is listed as one of the defendants. The other is Cathy Campbell of Farmingdale, a corrections officer also working at the jail at that time.

John and Campbell denied the allegations against them in their responses to the suit.

The complaint says Rozell showed signs of severe depression after being jailed March 29, 2002, on a charge of operating under the influence. When Rozell called his mother April 5 and said he might try to kill himself, Norton immediately called the jail to warn the staff, the suit says.