Cherokee County inmate dies by suicide, sheriff says

Published 3:55 pm Monday, December 2, 2024

From Staff Reports

Officials say a Jacksonville man who was incarcerated at the Cherokee County Jail has died after an apparent suicide.

Mason Johnston, 29, was found dead on Monday from what Sheriff Brent Dickson said was an apparent suicide.

Life-saving measures were attempted by jail staff but were unsuccessful. Johnston was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace Amber Hood and his body was sent to Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science for an autopsy.

Johnston was held in the county jail since July 31, 2021, on four courts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The Texas Rangers and the Cherokee County Criminal Investigation Division were called to investigate. This is an ongoing investigation and no further details can be released at this time, Dickson said.