As he placed the miniature wooden coffin on the board room table, Charles McCool warned the county supervisors to fix the conditions at the county jail before somebody dies.
The mood was tense during the most recent Yazoo County Board of Supervisors meeting as McCool aired his grievances surrounding his time while in custody at the local jail.
“That is what you are asking for,” McCool said, pointing to the small casket. “That is what is going to happen. They may not do it in their cell...but when they get out of that (jail), they will.”
McCool said that he is mentally ill and brought photographs of his family who he said suffer from many of the same mental health issues.
While in custody at the county jail because he was acting suicidal, McCool said he was treated like a convict and not given any consideration as a mentally ill person.
“It is not right for a mental patient to be locked up like that,” he said. “If I am a patient – treat me like a patient – not a convict. Unless you are in that situation, you don’t know what it’s like being mentally ill.”
McCool has been diagnosed with depression and became suicidal while grieving the loss of his mother in June of 2015. A judge ruled that McCool was a danger to himself and ordered him committed to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield. He was taken to the Yazoo County Jail to be transported to Whitfield.
McCool said, while in custody at the county jail, he was denied the opportunity to make phone calls and was ignored by many officials.
“I know what it is like to have somebody with suicidal issues,” he told the board, pointing to a photograph of his son. “My son killed himself.”
McCool said the employees at the county jail are not able to handle mentally ill patients,
“Get us away from your convicts,” McCool said. “I am sure it all relates back to money and responsibility. But treat them like mental patients”
McCool added that he would like to see the “suicide cell” treated different from the jail’s holding cells.
The county board said they would take into consideration all of McCool’s concerns.
“I want to see something become of this,” McCool said. “Don’t wait until it’s one of your kids or grandkids.”
