Chance Kidder
Chance Kidder, 19, grew up on the Yakama Reservation and was raised by foster parents Jackie and Charlie Lunn in Kittitas; a former girlfriend, Erica Littler, remembers him as charming and as someone struggling with his mental health. He died at Airway Heights Corrections Center, where the Washington Department of Corrections said he hanged himself from the sprinkler head protection cage in his isolation cell on August 18, 2014, and he was taken off life support the next day. The department's own investigation found missed cell checks and that the sprinkler cage had been used in earlier suicides and was not removed. His family says he should not have been held in segregation or been able to hang himself.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). The Washington Department of Corrections says Kidder hanged himself from a sprinkler head protection cage in his isolation cell, but its own investigation found missed cell checks and an unremoved cage used in earlier suicides, and his family says he should not have been in segregation or able to hang himself.
Reported by: Washington Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); his family.