POLICE: 17-YEAR-OLD INMATE HANGED HIMSELF IN CELL

MIAMI -- (AP) -- A 17-year-old inmate with a history of cocaine
arrests hanged himself hours after he was transferred from a juvenile
center to an adult jail, police said.

Gary Petit-Frere was found unconscious in his cell in the juvenile
section of the Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center on Dec. 21.

He hanged himself with a bed sheet tied to a sink faucet, which he
leaned against on all fours, said Miami-Dade Detective James McColman.

Petit-Frere had been charged as an adult with possession of cocaine
and resisting arrest in circuit court the previous day. He was moved
from the Juvenile Justice Center to Turner Guilford, which is
primarily for adults, the morning of his death.

McColman said corrections officials interviewed Petit-Frere in a
routine psychiatric screen.

``They had no indication of anything,'' McColman said.

Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation is investigating the death.

In July, Petit-Frere, of northwest Miami-Dade County, had also been
charged as an adult with possession of cocaine, intent to distribute
cocaine, possession of a firearm by a minor and other charges. He was
released on bond.

In the last decade, more than 175 inmates committed suicide in state
prisons and local jails, according to records from medical examiners,
county jails and state prisons.