The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating the death of a Forsyth County jail inmate. Information is just now being released about the incident, which occurred on November 20th of this year.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office released a report on Thursday, saying that a female inmate was found unresponsive in her holding cell around 6:30 a.m. According to the report, “three nurses within the jail, along with deputies, performed life-saving measures, including administering a dose of Narcan and utilizing the A.E.D., as EMS was called.” A short time later, the inmate was pronounced dead.
Melissa Ponce of Tucker had been arrested for a DUI around 3:40 a.m. that morning. A short time later, around 5 a.m. Ponce was seen eating breakfast and moving about the jail normally. Deputies on duty that morning said that she showed no signs of needing any kind of medical attention.
The preliminary investigation suggests that the 28-year-old possibly ingested an illegal drug right before being jailed. The body of the inmate will go to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The GBI is conducting the investigation. The Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards is also looking into the case.
This is the second sudden death of a jail inmate investigated in Forsyth County. Just three days earlier a male inmate was found unresponsive. That case is also being investigated by the GBI.
