At midnight Monday morning, a Franklin County Deputy was doing a bed check at the county jail and discovery the dead body of 35-year-old Joseph Pena. Pena had hung himself with a bed sheet, tied to an air vent in his cell. Union ambulance personnel responded but there were no signs of life in the prisoner. Pena was serving a one-year sentence in an area of 12 one-man cells, for traffic-related charges and was due to be released in July.

The Franklin County Jail allows inmates access in and out of their cells during the day, but at midnight the cells are locked down. During the evening, periodic checks are made, and Pena was discovered during one of those checks. Pena left a suicide note that indicated he was depressed over the circumstances of his life.