Associated Press - November 19, 2009 8:44 PM ET

COVINGTON, La. (AP) - An inmate who had been in the St. Tammany Parish since last month has committed suicide.

Sheriff Jack Strain says 40-year-old Alan Jackson of Slidell hanged himself either late Wednesday or early Thursday with a bed sheet in an isolation cell. The parish coroner's office is investigating to determine the exact cause of death.

Strain says Jackson was last seen alive during a routine check of the cell at about 11 p.m. Wednesday. When another check was done around 4 a.m. Thursday, deputies found Jackson hanging from the ceiling. The sheriff says Jackson had been in an isolation cell for "disruptive behavior" and was not on suicide watch.

He was jailed Oct. 2 on a parole violation, public intimidation, introducing contraband into a penal institution and distribution or possession of a drug without a prescription.

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