September 4, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Winder, Communications & Information Manager

State Prison Inmate Dies

Sioux Falls, S.D.- State prison inmate James McVay has died as the result of a suicide.

McVay, age 44, was found hanging in his cell in the Jameson Annex to the South Dakota State Penitentiary overnight. Penitentiary staff attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an ambulance was summoned. McVay was pronounced dead before he could be transported to a local hospital.

McVay was convicted of first-degree murder in Minnehaha County and sentenced to death earlier this year. McVay pled guilty but mentally ill to the July 2011 murder of Maybelle Schein of Sioux Falls.

An autopsy will be conducted. The Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the death. The Department of Corrections will conduct a full review of circumstances surrounding his death.

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