Inmate’s death investigation concluded; no charges will be filed

CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN. (WLAF)- No criminal charges will be filed in the death of a Campbell County inmate.

Faith Evans died in April at the Campbell County Jail. An autopsy revealed she died from a “hemorrhagic stroke due to methamphetamine toxicity.” She had been in the jail for six days after being arrested on probation violation. CLICK HERE for additional story.

Following Evans’ death, the Eighth Judicial District Attorney General’s Office requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigate the matter.

Last week, the investigation was closed.

The conclusion of the investigation was it didn’t “uncover any criminal conduct that could be successfully prosecuted,” a letter from Eighth Judicial District Attorney General Jared Effler sent to the TBI said.

Evans was being housed in a “max” cell at the time of her death. A max cell houses only one inmate meaning she was alone at the time of her death. Jail staff saw her alive at 6:48am. Forty-two minutes later, Evans was dead, according to the letter.

A comprehensive investigation concluded the Methamphetamine she consumed just before her death “could not have occurred prior to her arrest.”

The investigation was “frustrated by the fact that no video devices were in operation in the female max area” when Evans died. Further complicating the investigation was the overall lack of video surveillance in the jail, the letter said.

If the Campbell County Jail had had cameras in the max cell area, “it would help answer an obvious question in this case- where did the Methamphetamine that Ms. Evans ingested come from,” according to the closure letter.

The lack of cameras in the facility constitutes a risk not only for inmates but for the staff. It also stymies any investigation that is needed because there is no video to refer back to.

Having a surveillance system is “essential” to operating a jail in a safe and efficient manner. It is paramount to daily operations and “quite frankly no penal facility should be expected to operate without it,” the letter said.

Campbell County Jail staff has informed the district attorney’s office a plan is in place to “rectify the lack of complete video surveillance” in the county jail.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 8/29/2024-6AM)