Hartsfield allegedly attempts suicide after bond is lowered

CHAMBERS COUNTY, TEXAS — A former Douglas County resident accused of killing her husband in Texas appeared to have attempted to take her own life after a hearing last week.

According to a report from KTRK in Houston, Sarah Hartsfield allegedly attempted to take her own life with a pencil sharpener blade on Wednesday, March 1.

Hartsfield did not require hospitalization, it was reported.

The suicide attempt took place "moments" after a judge lowered her bond from $5 million to $4.5 million, it was reported.

Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told the station that Hartsfield has been placed on suicide watch until further notice and evaluation.

Hartsfield's attorney, Keaton Kirkwood, was quoted as saying she will not be able to make the bond at this time.

Kirkwood was also quoted as saying Hartsfield is being held in jail unconstitutionally because the cause and manner of her husband's death have not been determined.

"How can you indict somebody when you don't know?" Kirkwood is quoted as saying. "I have no idea, but this is the epitome of indicting a ham sandwich."

In 2018, Sarah Hartsfield, whose last name was Donohue at the time, said she shot and killed her boyfriend David Bragg near Garfield after he discharged a handgun at her during a domestic violence incident, according to a 2019 report from Douglas County Attorney Chad Larson.

A limited trajectory analysis of a bullet hole at the scene was performed, and found to be consistent with Bragg discharging his firearm at Hartsfield as she was ascending the stairs, Larson's report read.

The report, which included details from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's investigation, read that Hartsfield was "justified in shooting Mr. Bragg as a matter of self-defense as she was facing lethal force and had no reasonable possibility of retreating from the threat."

Hartsfield was ultimately not charged in the shooting death of Bragg.

Douglas County's investigation into the 2018 shooting is now considered active again following the receipt of some new information, according to a Feb. 9 email from Larson to the Echo Press.

Hartsfield is currently being held after the death of her husband, Joseph Hartsfield. It has been reported by multiple sources that he was her fifth husband.

Officials said Joseph Hartsfield, who was 46, had diabetes, adding that his insulin levels were extremely high in the four to six hours that preceded a 911 call made by Sarah Hartsfield, according to a report by ABC13 Eyewitness News in Houston.

Joseph Hartsfield was in a coma for a week before he died, the station reported.

Additionally, sources reported to Houston station KPRC2 that the death is believed to be an insulin overdose, but the medical examiner's office hasn't released an official cause.