KALAMAZOO, MI The family of a 29-year-old man who died by suicide in the Kalamazoo County Jail on Dec. 17 continues to search for answers.

Chase David Dalton Lovell, of Galesburg, was taken into custody on Dec. 15 after allegedly starting a fire in his room at Ascension Borgess Hospital earlier that day. Lovell was arraigned in Kalamazoo County District Court on Dec. 16 on a charge of first-degree arson. His bond was set at $100,000 cash or surety.

Related: Man charged with arson in Kalamazoo hospital fire found dead in county jail

An investigation by the Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office found that Lovell killed himself in his jail cell, Sheriff Richard Fuller confirmed in a Friday, Feb. 12, statement.

Phone calls between Lovell and his parents, received in response to an MLive Freedom of Information Act request, recorded some of the inmates final conversations with family before his death. The sheriffs office also released a redacted copy of Lovells jail file in response to the FOIA.

Lovells final call from the jail, made at 10:46 a.m. on Dec. 17, was to his mother Shannon Welihan, who had driven her son to the hospital days earlier to receive mental health treatment.

You were in there to get help, so I dont understand why youre not getting help, Welihan tells her son during the call, referencing his brief stay at the hospital.

Lovell told his mother he was hearing voices, and that they were bad, and Welihan assures her son, whether he is at the hospital or the jail, he is in a safe place.

According to jail documents, when Lovell was admitted to the jail on Dec. 15, he was escorted to the medical wing in shackles and wearing a suicide gown. He was placed in a medical padded cell, but after a Dec. 16 mental health screening Lovell was moved to a cell in a different medical unit.

Lovell was asked by personnel from Community Mental Health if at any time since arriving at the jail he had suicidal thoughts, or if he was currently having them. Lovell said he had not, the report said.

Deputy Don Boven interviewed Lovell the following morning, on Dec. 17, and wrote in his report that Lovell appeared to be in a clear state of mind and he did not feel there was any fear of self-harm. Still, later that day, Boven reported the decision was made to keep Lovell in the medical unit under supervision due to quarantine procedures and the inmates current state of mind.

An internal investigation into Lovells death was conducted by the sheriffs office. According to the redacted investigative documents, received in response to MLives FOIA request, there was no wrongdoing by any jail staff or sheriffs deputies documented.

Fuller has not responded to calls from MLive requesting this information.

The released documents state there were multiple situations that occurred in the two hours leading up to Lovells death which caused officers to be distracted or pulled them from their normal day to day operations in the medical wing and pods. Three specific instances involving other inmates were listed.

Video of Lovells cell that day was reviewed by Sgt. Antonio Munoz, according to jail documents.

Munoz reported Lovell went of screen at 5:09 p.m., more than an hour before he was found dead by Deputy Rebecca Dow, having hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell.

At 4:53 p.m., Lovell can be seen on security footage walking to the bathroom partition and appears to be tying a sheet around it. He then returns to bed, Munoz reports.

At 5 p.m. he gets up from bed, looks at the camera and begins to cover the partition with a suicide blanket. He then returns to bed and can be seen for the next few minutes moving around under the covers. At 5:03 p.m. he gets up again and appears to be trying to again secure a sheet to the partition.

At 5:08 p.m. he appears to have a sheet around his neck, removes the sheet, walks to the cell door to look out and see if any deputies are around, Munoz reports. One minute later he disappears behind the partition and covers it with a blanket.

Later in the hour, Down and Boven performed safety and security rounds at 5:50 p.m. in the unit, according to Deputy Thomas Jelsomenos report.

At 6:10 p.m. while assisting the inmate in the cell next to Lovells, Dow asked the inmate how he was doing. The inmate, Jelsomeno said, Fine now that the guy in the cell next to him stopped hitting the wall.

At 6:26 p.m., Dow began again making safety and security rounds in the pod. Upon coming to Lovells cell, she said something does not seem right and entered his cell, Jelsomeno said.

Fuller, who had not previously responded to requests from MLive to be interviewed on the matter, released a statement on Friday, Feb. 12, stating that the sheriffs office extends its deepest condolences to (Lovells) family and friends.

In the statement, the sheriff confirmed a deputy making regular rounds discovered Lovell unresponsive in the medical/mental health wing of the jail. He said the deputy immediately called for help and initiated life-saving measures.

Deputies and medical staff continued those efforts until paramedics arrived, Fuller said in the statement. After all attempts to resuscitate the individual were exhausted, the doctor in charge pronounced the individual deceased.

After a thorough investigation, Fuller said, it was determined Lovell died by suicide.

Hearing voices

Lovells mother, Shannon Welihan, told MLive previously she had driven her son who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was believed to have schizoaffective disorder to the Kalamazoo hospital on Dec. 11 because he had been hearing voices and told her he wanted to kill himself.

On Dec. 15, the fire Lovell was accused of setting took place in the hospitals behavioral unit at around 10:45 a.m. Ascension Borgess spokesperson Christopher Hunt told MLive that day the fire was small and extinguished quickly.

Lovells records from Integrated Services of Kalamazoo show he had a history of suicide attempts and psychiatric hospitalizations, according to a report completed by mental health staff conducting the Dec. 16 screening. The report also said Lovell said he was hearing a lot of voices and appeared anxious and nervous.

Welihan told MLive in December that her son had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals four times in 2020.

During the first recorded call from Lovell, placed at 8:28 p.m. Dec. 16, he tells his mother hes in jail because they think I set the facility on fire.

Theres a fire and they blamed me because it started in my room and now Im being charged with arson, and I can get a life sentence for it, he says. I dont know what happened. I woke up and there was smoke in there and then I got out and they think I started it on purpose.

Throughout the calls with his mother and his father, David Lovell, Chase Lovell states that he was, and still is, hearing voices and that they were real bad on Dec. 15, the day he was alleged to have started the fire in his room at Ascension Borgess Hospital.

Youre safe

Chase Lovell references multiple times his $100K cash or surety bail and that he could be spending life in prison. To post the cash or surety bond would require someone to pay $10K to get him out of jail.

On a call Dec. 17, placed at 10:32 a.m., eight hours before Lovell was found dead, his father tells him, I just dont know where we are going to be able to come up with $10,000 Chase, to be honest.

Chase Lovell responds, Alright, so there is no way Im getting out of here?

Not at the moment, David Lovell responds. But we just found this out yesterday, we are still trying to figure this out.

His final call with family was placed later that morning, at 10:46 a.m., to his mother.

I just want you to be safe and know that we love you and that I want you to get the help that you need, Welihan said. And I dont know what happened, you dont need to tell me. Im just waiting for the report. Im really concerned about you and I want you to get better.

The voices are just bad, her son said.

There are a lot of things that have happened to you in the past year and you are a safe environment, and even though it sucks Chase, whether you are in a hospital or there, no matter what, youre safe, and we love you and we want you to get better.

That would be the last time Welihan would speak to Chase.

Searching for answers

Welihan said she was extremely concerned about her sons mental health and called the sheriffs office after she hung up with her son. She left a voicemail, but said nobody called her back.

Her son committed suicide in the jail at 6:33 p.m. that evening, his file states.

At 9 p.m., Thursday night, three people from the Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office showed up at Welihans Galesburg home and broke the news to her.

The familys attorney, Jon Marko, of Marko Law in Detroit, said they are still waiting for the reports to understand what happened.

We just want answers for the family, Marko said. The death of this young man should never have happened. He was mentally ill and under the supervision and care of the jail and he was entirely dependent on them for his safety.

This was certainly a failure on their part.

Marko said he could not say whether the family intended to file a civil suit against the Kalamazoo County Sheriffs office or Ascension Borgess Hospital, where the fire started.

We cant even think about that right now until we complete a full investigation, he said. It certainly doesnt pass the smell test, though.

Lovell was the second inmate to die by suicide in the Kalamazoo County Jail in the latter part of 2020.

On Oct. 18, at around 1 p.m., Samuel Leroy Chrispens, of Portage, hanged himself in his maximum security cell one day prior to a scheduled sentencing on a methamphetamine-related charge in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

Gryphon Place in Kalamazoo offers a 24-hour hotline for those in crisis: 269-381-4357. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention provides information on warning signs and risk factors here.

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There is no way Im getting out of here? Kalamazoo County inmate asked parents before suicide - MLive.com