Beaufort County prisoner attempts suicide days after sentencing

Nearly a week after testifying against his former girlfriend in her murder trial and days after his own sentencing, a Beaufort County Detention Center inmate attempted suicide Sunday.

Anthony Ellison, 39, was found in his cell with a razor blade cut on one wrist around 9:30 a.m., according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

Col. Quandara Grant, director of the detention center, said Ellison is expected to make a full recovery and that after first aid, he only remained in Beaufort Memorial Hospital for part of Sunday.

Mental health counseling is available to inmates at the detention center Grant said, but she could not give more details into whether Ellison was on a suicide watch list.

A center employee was collecting razors on Sunday morning when Ellison, covered by his sheets, wouldn’t respond to a command to get up and return his razor, according to the Sheriff’s Office report. Ellison’s cell mate handed in Ellison’s razor for him, but the blade was missing, the report said. The employee asked Ellison where the blade was and all he said was “it’s already too late,” according to the report.

Ellison’s cell mate told deputies that Ellison had been upset since his conviction and had woken up early on Sunday morning to pack his things, shave and return to his bed, according to the report.

Ellison was transported to South Carolina Department of Corrections in Columbia on Tuesday morning, Grant said. That was his scheduled transfer date, she said.

On Aug. 23 Ellison testified against his co-defendant Jasmine Femia, who was also convicted of murder and conspiracy. Last Thursday, Ellison was sentenced to 38 years for murder and conspiracy in the January 2015 shooting death of Nicholas Degros of Beaufort, the father of one of Femia’s children.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Beaufort County prisoner attempts suicide days after sentencing."