SOMERS — Convicted killer Steven Hayes was found unresponsive Monday morning after an apparent suicide attempt.
Hayes, who is on death row for the Cheshire home invasion killings, was revived by correction staff and was in stable condition Monday evening, a department spokesman said.
Hayes apparently saved up medication he is prescribed and took it all at once Monday in an attempt to overdose, said a state official familiar with the incident.
Hayes was the only inmate in his cell when he was discovered by correction staff during a routine tour about 9:35 a.m.
Hayes has attempted suicide in the past.
In 2010, during his trial, Hayes tried to overdose on medication, causing jury selection to be postponed. During the penalty phase of his trial, there was testimony that he had tried on multiple occasions to kill himself, although prosecutors were skeptical.
He also came up with a plan to get served oysters in prison. Hayes is deathly allergic to oysters and he hoped, he said in a 2012 interview, to die from an allergic reaction.
His defense attorneys said he was consumed with suicidal ideations and wanted to be put to death.
Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky were convicted of the 2007 murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, during a home invasion at their Cheshire home. The daughters’ father, Dr. William Petit, survived but was severely injured.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky are on death row. The Connecticut legislature repealed the death penalty in 2012, with the provision that it remain in effect for crimes committed before the repeal.
The Department of Correction said it is investigating the incident.