Sheriff awaiting toxicology, autopsy results of inmate who died in jail

Inmates alerted corrections officers that Harley James Coyer of Lexington was unresponsive around 7 p.m., according to Hamilton.

Corrections officers and the on-duty nurse immediately began life-saving measures.

Hamilton said officers also administered a dose of NARCAN, which is typically used for drug overdose cases, but Coyer was still unresponsive.

An emergency medical services unit was called to the detention facility, and emergency medical technicians assisted with live-saving measures, which failed.

Coyer was pronounced dead on the scene by Lauderdale County Coroner Kim Jones.

“We can verify that he was alive and ate supper at 5 p.m.” Hamilton said. “Now we are trying to figure out what happened between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.”

Hamilton said there were no obvious signs of trauma or foul play involved in Coyer’s death.

He said Coyer didn’t show any obvious signs of an overdose, and the use of NARCAN was precautionary.

“It doesn’t hurt an individual if they are given NARCAN and not overdosing,” Hamilton said.

Inmates within the entire unit were removed from their cells. They and their cells were searched.

“We didn’t find anything,” Hamilton said.

He said one inmate, who shared a cell with Coyer, did appear to be “lethargic” Tuesday night and was transported to North Alabama Medical Center, where he was admitted.

Hamilton said Wednesday morning that he had not talked to a doctor to find out why that inmate was “lethargic.”

Hamilton said those who are arrested and booked into the detention facility are searched thoroughly, including a strip search. Following the search, the inmate then goes through a full body scanner.

Coyer had been in the Lauderdale County Detention Facility since May 24, 2022.

A Lauderdale County grand jury returned three separate indictments against Coyer for three separate arrests.

The grand jury returned one indictment charging him with three counts of illegal possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamines, fentanyl and cocaine), and one count of illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.

The case originated when he was arrested on Sept. 7, 2021, on all four counts. He bonded out on Sept. 20, 2021.

Another indictment charged Coyer with illegal possession of a controlled substance (meth), leaving the scene of an accident, illegal possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of attempting to elude, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest for a case that originated on May 24, 2022.

The third indictment charged Coyer with second-degree assault for a case that originated on June 30, 2022.

The last time an inmate was found unresponsive in his cell at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility reportedly had been on April 7, 2019. A 41-year-old inmate was found dead in his cell. Then Sheriff Rick Singleton said it appeared the inmate died of natural causes.

Almost two years later, an inmate who showed COVID symptoms was sent to the hospital the morning of Feb. 1, 2021, and died a few hours later.