The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a Sumner County jail inmate who died earlier this month.
The investigation comes after a new state law requires an outside agency to review the deaths of inmates.
Keith Baskerville, 52, of Portland died August 5.
Another inmate at the jail when Baskerville died wrote a letter to his mother, who then sent it to News 2.
The letter said Baskerville complained of chest pains to jail staff in the hours before he died, but was not taken to the hospital.
“He told nurses he was experiencing chest pains,” inmate Tony Paredes wrote. “He was given aspirin and told he probably had indigestion and sent back to his cell.”
Paredes continued, “At lockdown [11:00 p.m.] [Baskerville’s] cellmates noticed that something was wrong. Mr. Baskerville was on his bunk, mouth open and eyes fixed, not breathing.”
Paredes wrote that inmates banged on their cell doors for five to seven minutes before (continue reading)