CROSSVILLE, Tenn. (WOKI / WVLT) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent investigation after an inmate died following an apparent suicide at the Cumberland County Jail.
According to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened around 9 a.m. Tuesday at the jail in Crossville.
Officials said correctional officers responded to an incident involving 46-year-old Joey Minshew and immediately began life-saving efforts alongside jail medical staff. Authorities said Minshew was locked inside his cell when the incident occurred.
Minshew was transported by Cumberland County EMS to Cumberland Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
The sheriff’s office said Minshew had recently been arrested on outstanding warrants from Marshall County, Alabama, involving allegations of child rape. He was taken into custody by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force.
At the time of his death, Minshew was being held in the Cumberland County Jail on a fugitive warrant from another state. According to the sheriff’s office, his bond had been set at $750,000.
As is standard procedure in custodial death investigations, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been asked to review the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Officials said the investigation remains ongoing and additional information will be released when appropriate.
