Man dies at Whitley County Detention Center

A Whitley County Detention Center inmate died shortly before noon today, but foul play is not suspected.

[curious]

who died at the jail today?

[Uhhh]

curious wrote:

who died at the jail today?

Click the link and read the story instead of just the headlines.

[well]

he did not die at the jail, he passed away at jellico hospital, he was waiting to be flew out to uk

[just me]

He could have very well died at the jail and not been pronounced until they got him to Jellico and if they had him on any kind of life support, he could have still been clinically dead even in transit to another unit and living on life support. So yes he could have died at the jail.

[thats awful]

A Whitley County Detention Center inmate died shortly before noon today, but foul play is not suspected.
Doctors in Baptist Regional Medical Center's emergency room pronounced James Sowders, 55, of Corbin, dead at 11:10 a.m., said Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley.
"The cause of death is still pending further investigation, but it appears at this point to be natural causes. He does have a pre-existing medical condition," Croley said. "He was being treated and he was under a physicians care for that."
State medical examiners are autopsying Sowders' body today in Frankfort.
Sowders had been lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center for 11 days.
Whitley County Jailer Ken Mobley said Sowders was in jail serving a sentence for driving on a DUI suspended license, DUI, no insurance, and non-payment of fines.
"He was on heart medication and had a heart attack two years ago. He cut up with the nurse yesterday and was fine," Mobley said.
He said guards were passing out medications shortly after 8 a.m. and were on their way to give Sowders his medication when they learned he was unresponsive.
Guards performed CPR until Whitley County EMS arrived about 8:15 a.m., Mobley said.
Whitley County EMS transported Sowders to Jellico Community Hospital.
"They attempted to fly him to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, but he died in route in the air so they had to fly to the nearest facility and they were over Whitley County," Croley said.

[sad]

i hate this guy died . to me if he was unresponsive at the jail he was pretty much dead. its good they done cpr on him .

[DoralPepsi]

OmG..so sad RIP DoralPepsi.

[Friend of the Devil]

How many people have died over there? It seems to happen quite often.

[correct]

Friend of the Devil wrote:

How many people have died over there? It seems to happen quite often.

I'm surprised not more have died with the one nurse they have there about half the time. The inmates do NOT often receive proper dosages of their meds, and this was just bound to happen sooner or later. Ken has done a fantastic job with the jail overall, but the medical attention these people receive is pathetic!!! Poor guy. 55 years young. Serving time for a DUI. They need at least 2 full-time nurses over there instead of the one nurse that is there about half the time! The attention they receive is half-assed. I have a relative who was there for about a year and he was scared to death he was going to die in there. Received meds for high blood pressure at about half prescribed dosage, fell off top bunk, suffered immensely from pain and received 1 Tylenol for it. The fact that this young man died in there does not surprise me. It was only a matter of time and there will be others. It is reallly pathetic!

[lugnut]

Your a bunch of fools if ya' think some cop in there is going to put their lips on an inmates lips to give him CPR, get real people they are not going to. if they handle you at all they put on their rubber gloves so they don't touch you. their not going to take a chance of catching something like swine ful or hiv , it don't happen like that folks. would you?

[private eye]

if a person in front of me is unconsious you better believe IM gonna do cpr or what ever i can to save them.

[just me]

Why was he transfered to Jellico before BRMC especially when they are more equipped to handle this type of situation. And even why were they trying to transport him to UK instead of UT when it is closer???? There are just to many unanswered questions for me. Things just don't sound right.

[what the]

thats awful wrote:

"They attempted to fly him to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, but he died in route in the air so they had to fly to the nearest facility and they were over Whitley County," Croley said.

Now that just don't make good sense.

[lots]

I suspect that they probably let this man lie down there without the medications that he was prescribed. Just my opinion, I agree it doesn't all add up. I have heard lots of people say that they were prescribed narcotics that they were used to taking everyday and they were denied those while there. Also, not just narcotics but medicine that they require daily also. I bet this isn't the first time.

[just me]

Sounds like they were trying to change time of death to me. Liver temp drops one degree for every hour of death.

[Haha]

just me wrote:

Sounds like they were trying to change time of death to me. Liver temp drops one degree for every hour of death.

Well, if it isn't CSI right here on Topix. You've been watching too much TV. Without knowing the variables it is impossible to accurately know how fast this persons liver temperature would drop. Do you know what the temperature was in the environment he was in? Do you know what type and how many layers of clothing he had on? Do you know who much he weighed? Do you know how much core body fat he had?

[i would]

If I were apart of that mans family, I'd sue the jail. U know they don't give them their meds like they're supposed to. They probably just let him die. Sad....

[sad]

It is sad that any human being dies in jail. What is also sad is the speculation surrounding this and the accusations. People get the facts before you make false accusations!

[Wondering]

sad wrote:

It is sad that any human being dies in jail. What is also sad is the speculation surrounding this and the accusations. People get the facts before you make false accusations!

I wonder what all these people are doing in this rinky dink town instead of some big city like New York making some big money. Shoot if I were psychic like they are, you know knowing what temperature his liver was, where he died at, that the jail staff hadn't given his medicines, etc. I wouldn't be wasting my time on Topix.

[Cassie]

just me wrote:

Why was he transfered to Jellico before BRMC especially when they are more equipped to handle this type of situation. And even why were they trying to transport him to UK instead of UT when it is closer???? There are just to many unanswered questions for me. Things just don't sound right.

They were going to send him to UK Medical Center cause that is where his heart dr is to begin with. He was seeing a heart dr in Lexington for a few months, they were taking him to Jellico cause it was closer to Williamsburg, how hard is that to figure out. I work with his nephew in Corbin, and this story is getting all blown out context, don't start rumors on something you don't know about.