Man Found Hanged in Jail Cell Is Identified

Los Angeles police Monday identified the man who hanged himself while in the North Hollywood Jail as Richard Thomas Desjeunes, a suspected burglar.

Desjeunes, 30, of North Hollywood was found hanging from a light fixture about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. He had used a mattress cover to fashion the noose, police said.

Police investigating the death said that Desjeunes was in a cell by himself and that when prisoners in nearby cells saw him hang himself, they started yelling for help. Investigators said officers responded quickly, but Desjeunes was unconscious and unresponsive by the time he was taken down. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Desjeunes had been in jail since his arrest Thursday on suspicion of burglary, police said.