A Shenandoah man died late Wednesday after being found hanging by a shoelace in his Schuylkill County prison cell on Tuesday evening.

Jason Pesavage, 36, was found by his cellmate, hanging by a shoelace tied to an upper bunk at 8:55 p.m., said Warden Eugene Berdanier."Staff were alerted that it appeared that he was committing a suicidal act," he said."Staff immediately started emergency procedures, freeing the shoelace and performing CPR. They called EMS at the same time."Pesavage was taken to Pottsville Medical Center South, then was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest."He still had a pulse," Berdanier said.Lehigh County Chief Deputy Coroner Andrew Kehm said Pesavage was pronounced dead at 11:02 p.m. Wednesday.An autopsy done Thursday morning determined the cause of death was hanging and the manner, suicide.Berdanier said Pottsville police are investigating the matter.Pesavage, who has a record of minor offenses, mostly retail thefts and disorderly conduct, was in prison following his arrest on felony retail theft charges filed by Rush Township Police. According to the police report, Pesavage stole items from the HT Commons Walmart on four occasions Aug. 29, Sept. 15, Sept. 22 and Sept. 30. The merchandise was valued at $2534.89.After the Sept. 30 theft, police were able to identify the thief as Pesavage and contacted Shenandoah Police for help in making an arrest. Shenandoah Police picked him up and transferred custody to Rush Township Police.He was then arraigned before on-call District Judge James Ferrier of Orwigsburg, at 2:50 a.m. on Oct. 18. Unable to post his $10,000 bail, he was lodged in the county prison while awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 28.He faced similar charges in Saint Clair.