2 inmates die after suicide attempts at Ohio county jail

NEWARK, Ohio -- Two inmates have died after separate suicides in a central Ohio jail with a recent history of prisoner suicides.

The prisoners were housed at Licking County Jail in Newark, where five staff members lost their jobs last year after an inmate suicide and several other suicide attempts.

The Columbus Dispatch reports Tuesday that Jeffrey Skeele died at Ohio State University's medical center Saturday, eight days after deputies discovered him with a bedsheet around his neck looped over a sprinkler head.

The paper says inmate Spencer McLaughlin died at the medical center Wednesday, two days after deputies found him with a sheet tied around his neck in his cell.

Sheriff Randy Thorp calls the deaths frustrating because, "obviously we care."

In July, CBS affiliate WBNS reported that five Licking County corrections officers resigned after an investigation found inmates had been unchecked for hours and security checks had been falsified. The investigation was sparked by the May suicide of inmate Stanton Deeley.