Authorities investigate 2 inmate deaths reported at separate Arkansas lockups

Authorities are investigating two inmate deaths at separate facilities in eastern Arkansas, including one that happened early Friday.

Staff at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys found inmate D’angelo Merriweather unresponsive shortly after 2:50 a.m. in his single-man cell, according to a news release.

Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said responding correctional officers and medical staff provided treatment before Merriweather was taken to the unit’s infirmary.

Merriweather, 23, was pronounced dead there at 3:30 a.m., Graves said.

Records show the inmate had been convicted on various drug- and weapons-related charges out of Clark and Greene counties as well as a count of terroristic act. His intake date was March 11, 2014, and he had been given a parole eligibility date of March 16, 2024.

Around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, detainee Charles Garza was found hanging in a locked single-man cell at the unit’s Lee County jail in Brickeys by staff, according to another news release.

Garza’s death is believed to have been a suicide, Graves said. After responding officers and medical staff were unable to detect a pulse, he was pronounced dead at 1:43 p.m. that day.

A message left with the Lee County sheriff's office was not returned Friday.

The Arkansas State Police, which will be conducting investigations into the deaths, was immediately notified and responded in both cases.

The Correction Department will also conduct its own investigation into Merriweather’s death, and the Lee County sheriff’s office is part of the state police probe into Garza’s death.

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