SEARCY, Ark. – The family of a White County inmate is demanding answers after the detention center confirmed he killed himself while behind bars.
Nineteen-year-old Keylan Comic was serving time for his role in a string of Waffle House armed robberies. He, along with three other suspects, was arrested Sept. 13.
“Other than that, he was a good kid,” said his aunt, Bridgette Comic. “He was a good kid.”
One week after his arrest, surveillance video from the White County Detention Center shows Comic start a fight with two inmates in one of the isolation cells. According to the investigation report, a jailer maced him then some time later, Comic fell to the ground while he was handcuffed, and the jailer proceeded to drag him to the medical unit.
His family was not aware of this.
“This is the first we know of it,” Bridgette said.
According to the jail, Comic was wearing a safety smock, which means he was on suicide watch. That’s something his aunt did know more about. Bridgette said he’s been fighting depression and suicidal thoughts for years.
“He never acted on it,” she said. “I don’t see how he got pressured that much to kill himself in a facility. I just don’t understand it. I don’t see it.”
According to the jail, Comic killed himself while in custody Nov. 5.
“It’s not a race thing or nothing to me,” Bridgette said. “It’s a young man’s death that could have been prevented. He turned 19 in jail. He didn’t even know that we were at the courthouse trying to see about him. He didn’t know the phone calls we made. They probably told him nobody loved him.”
Comic was on suicide watch at the time of the video. However, neither the jail nor his family could confirm if he was on suicide watch at the time of his death.
“He’s not here, but we love him,” Bridgette said. “We love him and will always have him in our heart.”
Arkansas State Police is investigating Comic’s death, which the jail said is standard procedure.
“We just want answers,” Bridgette said. “Mental health has to be taken more seriously. We maybe could save another life and not let his life go in vain. It can happen to anybody’s family, anybody. And I just hate it happened to mine.”
In relation to the surveillance video, the White County Sheriff’s Office conducted its own investigation after one of the deputy jailers, who also appears in the video, filed a written complaint about the coworker who dragged Comic.
In the complaint, the jailer wrote the coworker threw Comic to the ground, but the investigation found he fell to the ground, both jailers didn’t try to help him back up, and one of them dragged him.
The investigative file states both jailers violated policy and were suspended without pay for three days.
The deputy jailer who complained resigned Sept. 26 to take another job.
The other jailer who dragged Comic received a notice of employment action Oct. 10 that said the suspension would be effective Oct. 26. The employee served the suspension Oct. 26, 27 and 31 and returned to work Nov. 1.
