Man jumps to death at Yakima jail

YAKIMA — A Yakima County jail inmate committed suicide by leaping from a second-tier cellblock railing 15 feet down to the first tier, officials said. It was the second jail suicide in Washington state this week.

Seth Eich, 28, died of head injuries Thursday at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center, where he was taken after jumping Wednesday morning.

According to jail booking records, Eich was arrested April 11 by Yakima police for investigation of child rape.

Eich was out of his cell on a routine break when a guard noticed him preparing to jump, pounded on the cell glass and told him to stop, but the guard couldn't reach him in time.

Jail director Steve Robertson said it was the first time he can recall that an inmate attempted suicide by jumping from an upper tier.

In Chehalis, Lewis County jail officials identified an inmate who hanged himself with a bedsheet in his cell Tuesday as Michael Bridgman, 39, of Centralia. He had been in jail a week for investigation of violating conditions of community release.