The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that a jail inmate died while in custody.
Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell, in a news release, said that Charles Lamont Stevenson, age 42, was pronounced dead after being placed in jail on the morning of Monday, November 28th on drug charges.
Statesville Police charged Stevenson with felony trafficking methamphetamine, felony possession with intent to sell or deliver methamphetamine, felony possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, five misdemeanor drug offenses, carrying a concealed weapon, and resisting arrest. He was ordered to be held in custody without custody.
Stevenson was taken to a holding cell due to his aggressive and uncooperative behavior with detention officers, Campbell said. Shortly afterward, Campbell said, he excreted a package, later confirmed to contain fentanyl, from his rectum and then consumed the contents from the package. Within minutes he became unconscious.
Detention Staff began CPR and administered Narcan in an effort to revive Stevenson. The Statesville Fire Department and Iredell EMS responded and continued CPR to no avail.
Detention officers and other first responders who had been exposed to the fentanyl had to be decontaminated.
Stevenson had an extensive criminal record, which includes felony and misdemeanor drug charges, felony first-degree burglary, felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and felony possession of a firearm
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation was called by Sheriff Campbell to conduct an investigation into the death as a matter of policy.
At the autopsy conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Health, an additional bag of powdery substance was collected from inside Stevenson’s body, and there were no other signs of trauma on his body.
Campbell added, “We extend our condolences to Mr. Stevenson’s family. I am also very proud of our detention officers and the Statesville Fire and EMS personnel who responded and risked being exposed themselves while attempting to save Mr. Stevenson.”