Suspect Dies; Police Jury Asks Probe

              Suspect dies;
Police Jury
asks probe
SHREVEPORT TIMES 1-28-82
By DON WAITT
Of The Times Staff
A 17-year-old robbery suspect who
fell from the eighth floor of the LSU
Medical Center Sunday night died at
4:50 p.m. Wednesday — less than two
hours after the Caddo Parish Police
Jury called for an investigation into the
incident by the district attorney.
Caddo deputies said Jerry Anderson
of 609 Wall St. sustained multiple in-juries
Sunday when he jumped from an
LSU hospital window and landed on the
roof of the first-floor kitchen. He had
been listed in critical condition in the
hospital's intensive care unit since then,
but died from the massive injuries late
Wednesday afternoon.
Caddo Sheriff Don Hathaway had said
earlier Wednesday that a sheriff's in-vestigation
indicates the fall was a
clear-cut suicide attempt. However, he
said he is not opposed to a review by a
second agency and is forwarding his
reports to the district attorney.
Police Juror Donald Aytch called for
an investigation at the conclusion of
Wednesday's jury meeting, requesting
that District Attorney Paul Carmouche
"initiate a full-scale investigation into
the alleged suicide attempt of Jerry
Anderson."
Aytch told jurors he had been con-tacted
by Anderson's mother, who said
her son suffered from seizures that
would often cause him to lose motor
control for 15 minutes to two hours.
Aytch said he wanted to find out if
Anderson was suffering from such a
seizure at the time of the fall. The juror
said he wanted a report on why An-derson,
who was in the custody of the
Caddo Parish sheriff's office, was being
guarded by a Shreveport security firm
guard rather than a parish officer.
Aytch also questioned why Anderson
was in a hospital room that had an open
window instead of in a special holding
area for prisoners.
Anderson turned himself in to
Shreveport police on Jan. 11 and was
charged with the Dec. 18 and Jan. 4
robberies of two First National Bank
branches. He was later transferred to
the Caddo Parish Jail and then to the
Caddo Correctional Institute.
He was later sent back to the parish
jail, and then to LSU hospital for treat-ment
of seizures, Hathaway said.
The sheriff said the window from
which Anderson jumped had been
opened by a hospital aide to allow
ventilation. He said Anderson, who was
wearing leg chains, opened the window
wider, placed a note and Bible on the
ledge and then jumped head first
through the opening. The guard grabbed
the legs of Anderson's pajamas, but
could not stop the fall, Hathaway said.
Private security guards are con-tracted
by the Sheriff's Department to
guard prisoners who stay overnight at a
hospital, Hathaway said, adding that
full-time deputies usually can't be
spared from their regular duties.