Matthew David Stewart
Matthew David Stewart was the oldest of five children and a former Army transmission systems operator who worked a graveyard warehouse shift at Walmart in Riverdale, and his family visited him every week. His brother described him as a healer who helped people as much as he could. He died by hanging from a bed sheet in his cell at the Weber County jail in May 2013, and the county attorney said a corrections officer found him about 12:50 a.m. after seeing him awake and alert at a check about an hour earlier. Officials treated the death as a suicide, and a review of a Utah Department of Public Safety investigation by Chief Deputy Cache County Attorney Donald Linton concluded that he alone was responsible and that jail staff had not mistreated him. His family disputes those findings, says he was never placed on suicide watch and that the jail did not act on their complaints, and his sister-in-law Erna Stewart said they hired their own investigators and will keep seeking answers.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). Officials say he hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell, but his family says he was never placed on suicide watch and that the jail did not respond to their complaints about his mental health care.
Reported by: Weber County Sheriff's authorities (the agency that held him); Weber County Attorney Dee Smith; Donald Linton, Chief Deputy Cache County Attorney; Utah Department of Public Safety (outside investigators); his family and attorney Bernard Allen (family or their lawyers); Salt Lake Tribune (reporters).
News reports (5)
- Alleged cop killer Matthew Stewart hangs self in jail cell
- Man charged with killing Ogden officer found dead in jail
- Man charged with killing police officer found dead in jail cell
- Matthew Stewart journals reveal struggle with suicidal thoughts
- Review: Matthew Stewart was not mistreated before suicide