Jessica DiCesare
Jessica DiCesare, 35, died in 2017 while held at the Barnstable County jail in Massachusetts. Her family said she struggled with addiction and mental illness, and her mother, Sue DiCesare, said she believed the jail was a safe place for her daughter to be. A state police investigation, which found papers Jessica left in her cell, said she hanged herself. Her mother has asked why jails are not better equipped to protect people like her daughter, and jail officials declined to discuss the details of her death.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. State police investigators say she hanged herself in her cell, and her family says she struggled with addiction and mental illness and asks why the jail was not better equipped to protect people like her.
Reported by: state police investigation; Jessica DiCesare's family (family or their lawyers); Barnstable County jail officials (the agency that held her).