Editor’s Note: The phone number for the local Suicide Prevention & Crisis hotline is 607-272-1616.
UPDATE (5:50 p.m. Friday) — A statement from the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office has been added.
ITHACA, N.Y. — Joshua Reeves, recently charged with arson in connection with a fire on Hudson Street, has died by suicide while in custody at the Tompkins County Jail, sources say.
Reeves, 31, of Dryden, was taken into custody Wednesday after being charged with second-degree arson, a felony. A witness turned Reeves in to the police shortly after a fire at 120 Hudson St. Wednesday that displaced seven people.
In a news release Friday afternoon, the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office said Reeves died at 10:58 a.m. The sheriff’s office said the death “does not appear to be suspicious in nature and there is no indication of foul play. A determination into the cause of death is still under investigation.”
A source familiar with the situation, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that Reeves hanged himself in his cell Friday.