Death row inmate cuts off his own penis after being denied suicide watch

Henry Hodges mutilated himself after a prison official allegedly denied his request to be put on suicide watch

This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows death row inmate Henry Hodges. Hodges cut off his own penis in a prison cell after slitting his wrists and asking to be put on suicide watch, his attorney Kelley Henry said on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP) (AP)

A death row inmate in Tennessee slit his wrists, was denied a request to be put on suicide watch, and subsequently cut off his own penis, his attorney said this week.

On Thursday, Kelley Henry, the attorney representing death row inmate Henry Hodges, said her client cut off his own penis after he requested to be put on suicide watch. Prior to that, he had slit his own wrists.

She visited him at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, where she found him being kept nude in 4-point and 6-point restraints for a week.

The attorney told the Associated Press she plans to file a complaint in the state court on Friday, alleging that her client’s civil rights have been infringed.

"He needs competent mental health care," Ms Henry said. “Surely the prison can find a place to put him where he is not a danger to himself or others and does not have to be tied down like an animal.”

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction was not immediately available for comment.

Hodges reportedly became upset earlier in October and began to smear his feces around his cell after guards refused to let him have a special food package he ordered. According to the attorney, Hodges was denied the food because he only had a clear conduct record for five months rather than the required six needed to receive special packages.

After he began smearing feces, a guard allegedly decided to stop feeding him. Then, on 7 October, he slit his wrists with a razor he had in his cell, the attorney said.

Hodges asked to be put on suicide watch after being taken to the infirmary, but a "high-ranking correctional officer" allegedly told the individual treating him that the inmate was just trying to manipulate them, the attorney said. Hodges was then sent back to his cell after receiving treatment.

While in his cell, Hodges used broken glass and other razors he had stashed away to mutilate himself.

"He used that to completely sever his penis," Ms Henry said.

Surgeons at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre treated him and reattached his penis. He was hospitalised for weeks and was then returned to the prison, where he was allegedly strapped to a thin mattress on top of a concrete block.

Hodges was reportedly put in 4-point restraints, but managed to wriggle a hand free and use it to rip out his catheter, his attorney said. That prompted prison officials to place him in 6-point restraints, which include straps at his biceps.

After agreeing to take his medication, Hodges was returned to 4-point restraints. He has not been allowed to walk or leave his bed since he returned to the prison, his attorney said.

Hodges has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder mixed type with psychotic episodes, his attorney said.

She said Hodges is "enduring ongoing psychiatric harm as a result of these conditions," and noted that he was on a hunger strike.

Hodges was sentenced to death in 1992 after he was convicted of murdering a telephone repairman, Ronald Bassett, in 1990. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for robbing Mr Bassett.

He was also convicted of killing a chemical engineer in North Carolina shortly after he killed Mr Bassett.