Two days before he was to begin his junior year in high school, 17-year-old James Stewart made a mistake that would force him to grow up fast.

On the night of Aug. 10, he took his father's SUV, got drunk and drove into oncoming traffic on East Colfax Avenue, killing the 32-year-old driver he ran into.

Hospitalized after he was pried from the wreckage, the teenager was overcome with remorse when he learned he had killed a man.

Jimmy, as he was known to family and friends, became depressed and endured sleepless nights, his father, Richard Stewart, said.

When Jimmy did sleep, he had nightmares about the crash. But in his nearly three weeks behind bars at the Gilliam Youth Services Center in Denver, Jimmy gradually began to cope with daily life, Richard Steward said.

His father and family visited him at least once a week.

"He was still in pain, I think," Richard Steward said during a recent interview in his north Denver home. "He was hurting from the accident, but he started getting better, and he started making friends, and he looked forward to the visits."

But life for Jimmy changed on Sept. 2 when he was moved to Denver County Jail after the Denver district attorney decided to prosecute him as an adult.

Richard Stewart recalled the day his son learned he would be transferred from the juvenile facility to the county jail.

"He told me, 'Daddy, I'm not ready for this.' He hardly ever called me Daddy," his father said.

Jimmy was placed in a special management unit with eight other teens separated from adult inmates.

Plea deal delayed

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said he offered Jimmy a plea deal in which he would be placed in the Youth Offender System, which takes an educational and rehabilitative approach with serious young offenders, who usually serve five years, plus a year of post-release supervision.

"We thought he was going to plead and get sentenced to YOS on Oct. 3," Morrissey said. "But the defense asked that the arraignment be continued to another date so that they could have more time to talk to him and his family about the YOS situation."

But on Oct. 22, the day before his next court date, things went badly. After a dispute with a cellmate, Jimmy was moved to another building.

According to his father, Jimmy snapped. He took bed sheets, slung them around his neck and hanged himself. Autopsy results are pending.

Richard Stewart and his wife, Barbara, have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city and county of Denver, including the sheriff's department. The couple is seeking $5 million damages in their son's death.

Undersheriff William Lovingier, who is in charge of the Denver County Jail, said he could not recall the last time a minor committed suicide at the facility.

Jimmy was one of three inmate suicides at the Denver County Jail this year, Lovingier said. However, he added, deputies were able to prevent 29 suicide attempts at the jail and a downtown holding facility.

"What's so hard about this is that it takes like six minutes to strangulate yourself or tie something around your neck, and there are so many ways in which to do it," Lovingier said. "That's why we really focus on awareness, and we try to get the right people in the right level of supervision."

Struggles with alcohol

Jimmy Stewart, nicknamed after the famous actor, was the youngest and the only boy of his father's five children. He played football in the Denver Police Activities League for seven years until he was 14. He attended Wheat Ridge High School, where he played football his freshman year.

But during his sophomore year, Jimmy struggled with his grades and began ditching classes, his father said.

More than a year ago, he was arrested after an altercation with Wheat Ridge police officers at a park where he had been drinking. Jimmy was ordered to pay fines and attend alcohol-abuse classes.

Richard Stewart was working a graveyard shift on Aug. 10 when his son took his Jeep Liberty. In the early morning hours of Aug. 11, Jimmy was speeding eastbound on East Colfax Avenue near Harrison Street when he slammed head-on into Nathan Woods, who was driving the same make vehicle.

Woods died a short time later.

Jimmy was freed from the wreckage by firefighters and hospitalized for his injuries. A blood test showed he had an alcohol level of 0.179 percent, more than twice the level where a driver is considered drunk, according to court records.

Richard Stewart said he was not allowed to see his son while he was at the hospital because he was in police custody.

A physician who was helping treat the teen told Richard Stewart that his son became distraught when he learned the driver of the other Jeep had died. The two agreed that Jimmy should be placed on a suicide watch, according to the family's lawsuit.

Adjusting to life in jail

When Jimmy was transferred to the county jail, his family faced a tough decision. Jimmy wanted out, but his family was unable to raise the $50,000 bail.

Besides, Richard Stewart thought, it might be time for his son to get some tough love.

Jimmy seemed resigned to the fact that his family could not get him out, Richard Stewart said.

On the Saturday before Jimmy was found dead, his family visited him, and they had a pleasant conversation. Jimmy, they said, was adjusting to life in jail and was making friends with other prisoners.

"He said, 'Dad, it's all good. I understand,' " his father said.

City officials said they could not discuss the case because of the pending lawsuit. But they offered their condolences.

"Mr. Stewart's death saddens all of us," City Attorney David Fine said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to his family."

Morrissey, the chief prosecutor, said his office rarely charges juveniles as adults.

Last year, for example, of the 134 juveniles who could have been charged as adults under the law, only 13 were.

"Obviously, this is something we take very seriously," he said.

Morrissey said Jimmy was charged as an adult because he was 17, close to being an adult in the eyes of the law.

In addition, he was driving drunk and without a license and traveling almost double the speed limit when he killed the other driver, Morrissey said.

Suicide prevention efforts

Undersheriff Lovingier said minors at the jail are housed only with other minors and are kept in their cells 23 hours a day. Their recreational activities are never with adult prisoners.

Lovingier said deputies have undergone extensive training to identify inmates, juvenile and adult, who might be suicidal. He has added more psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses to the jail's mental health staff to evaluate the prisoners.

"Jails across the nation usually have a suicide rate nine times higher than the general population," Lovingier said. "So recognizing that, we really focus a lot on suicide prevention."

Andrew J. O'Connor, a spokesman for the law firm representing the Stewart family, said the suit was filed in federal court, where there are no limits to what the city might be required to pay. He said the suit claims that Jimmy's civil rights were violated.

O'Connor said juveniles should never be placed in an adult facility.

"If (Jimmy) was adequately supervised, why did it happen? How did it happen?" O'Connor said. "They're telling you what their policy is, but it doesn't mean they implement their policy."

Timeline to tragedy

* Aug. 11: Jimmy Stewart crashes his dad's Jeep into another Jeep, killing the other driver.

* Aug. 13: Jimmy is released from hospital and transferred to Gilliam Youth Services Center.

* Sept. 2: The Denver district attorney charges Jimmy as an adult for vehicular homicide and transfers him to county jail.

* Oct. 22: Jimmy found dead with bed sheets around his neck.

* Oct. 23: On the date of his scheduled court hearing, Jimmy's father learns that his son is dead.

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