Inmate suicides are in the spotlight in our region.

Three are under investigation in Lehigh and Northampton Counties. All three cases are separate and unrelated, according to officials.

The Lehigh County man who was convicted of sexually abusing an underage girl for years before taking her to Mexico committed suicide in the Lehigh County Jail earlier this week.

Kevin Esterly was scheduled to be sentenced June 30. He had faced up to 87 years in prison.

“This individual in question, you know, did not exhibit any symptoms of mental health or distress, so we can’t prevent something we can’t detect,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.

An autopsy found that Esterly died from hanging and his death was ruled a suicide.

“This was not an individual who was in danger of self-harm, had not exhibited any mental illness or mental distress, had not said or done anything physically that would give us any indication that this was going to happen.”

Siegel says he has confidence in the Lehigh County Jail and its leadership. He says in additional to mental health screenings, the jail also completes interval checks.

“I think that this individual in question is somewhat of an outlier in part because not only were they not showing any signs of mental distress, but I think given the circumstances of their conviction and the severity of their offenses, this was someone who was confronting, you know, a life behind bars or a very different life,” said Siegel.

The death in Lehigh County comes on the heels of two inmate suicides at Northampton County Prison.

A 34-year-old woman on June 14th and a 35-year-old man on June 19th. In both of those cases, the cause of death was asphyxiation.

We reached out to the Communications Manager for Northampton County who provided this statement:

“In each of these separate and unrelated incidents, all life-saving measures were taken before the individuals were transported to the hospital via EMS. These matters are under investigation; we are unable to provide further comment at this time. We extend our deepest condolences to these individuals’ families and loved ones.”