A former high school basketball star from Rochester hanged himself Friday at a state addiction-treatment center, the Star Tribune has learned, becoming the fourth suicide at a state treatment facility since early 2015.
Ater Manyang, a 2012 graduate of Rochester Century High School, was found dead late Friday afternoon at the Community Addiction Recovery Enterprise (CARE) facility in St. Peter, according to the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.
The state Department of Human Services, which oversees the St. Peter facility, confirmed a death by apparent suicide, but declined on privacy grounds to identify the patient. The Star Tribune independently confirmed Manyang's identity.
"This is heartbreaking news, and we extend our sympathy to the patient's family," Deputy Human Services Commissioner Nancy Johnston said in a written statement. "As with any serious incident, we are fully investigating the circumstances and reviewing all relevant policies and procedures."
Lori Hedican, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office, said Manyang, 24, was found between 4 and 5 p.m. Friday.
Suicide deaths are rare at state mental-health facilities, but Manyang's death follows three last year, which prompted state regulators to order an intense investigation into care and staffing breakdowns.
In March 2015, Logan Brodal, 28, hanged himself with a bedsheet at the CARE facility in St. Peter, a death that union officials attributed to short staffing. The treatment center was so understaffed at the time that staff had to enlist the help of other patients to hold up his body while they loosened the bedsheet around his neck, workers said. One patient even helped in the effort to resuscitate him.
Four months later, a patient at a state mental hospital in Rochester also killed herself by hanging, prompting the Department of Human Services to order a "systematic evaluation" to determine why suicides had increased in state facilities.
