Sarah Ganoe
Sarah Whitney Ganoe, 38, was a woman from Newport News who had lived in Hampton Roads for 28 years, attended Warwick High School and Thomas Nelson Community College, and most recently worked as a delivery driver at a sandwich shop. She was held at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, where jail officials say she hanged herself in her cell on October 15, 2023. She died the next day at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, and the State Medical Examiner's Office in Norfolk lists the death as a suicide. The Portsmouth police and the jail are investigating whether staff followed procedures, and the jail has not said when the last check on her cell occurred.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (neglect alleged). Jail officials say she hanged herself after a guard walked away from her cell, and the jail and Portsmouth police are investigating whether staff followed procedures.
Reported by: Hampton Roads Regional Jail officials (the agency that held her); Hampton Roads Regional Jail superintendent Col. Jeff Vergakis (the agency that held her); State Medical Examiner's Office in Norfolk (medical examiner or coroner).
News reports (3)
- Newport News mother sentenced for stabbing children dies by suicide at Hampton Roads Regional Jail - The Virginian-Pilot
- Newport News mother dies by suicide while serving sentence for stabbing children, killing 1: HRRJ
- Woman who died by suicide at regional jail was ‘intent on carrying out her actions,’ jail official says - The Virginian-Pilot