Tests show prisoner gouged out own eyes

HAZLEHURST - Authorities in southeast Georgia say a mentally ill man picked up after someone reported a man knocking on doors gouged out his own eyes in his cell. <br> <br> Jeff Davis County Sheriff Jimmy Boatright said a medical report shows the injuries to 49-year-old Alvin Kent Smith in April were self-inflicted. <br> <br> Boatright says doctors were able to save one of Smith&#39;s eyes but said it&#39;s unlikely he will ever regain eyesight. <br> <br> Smith&#39;s family members threatened legal action against the sheriff&#39;s department for placing him in the cell with 38-year-old Curtis Balkcom, who had been convicted of numerous drug charges. <br> <br> But the sheriff said he suspected from the beginning the injuries were self-inflicted. Jailers and other inmates did not hear any commotion, and Balkcom told investigators he had been asleep and never heard anything. <br> <br> Smith -- a schizophrenic -- was picked up by deputies after someone reported a man knocking on doors. <br> <br> Jailers serving dinner found Smith on his bed with his face turned toward the wall. They turned him over when he did not respond and saw his injuries.