DUNLAP, Tenn. — The man burned in what authorities say was a meth lab explosion is recovering from his injuries in Sequatchie County custody, Sheriff’s office officials said.
Stanley Stewart, 24, was burned Nov. 28 in what is suspected to be a meth lab explosion at 99 Fescue Road, just outside the Dunlap city limits, records show. He was treated for a week at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Sequatchie County Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock said.
“They kept him seven or eight days, and they called us to come and get him,” Sheriff Hitchcock said.
“We’ve been doctoring him here ever since,” he said. The jail has a contract with a local doctor’s office for physician and nursing services for inmates.
“Our medical staff here is taking care of him, and we’re having to take him back and forth to Vanderbilt for appointments,” the sheriff said.
Mr. Stewart, who is being held in a medical holding cell at the justice center, has to shower twice a day. His cell has to be disinfected to keep his wounds clean, the sheriff said.
“He’s doing a lot better, but he’s still got a ways to go,” he said.
Mr. Stewart was arrested in November along with Cynthia Morgan, 20, and Juanita Gray, 42, on charges of manufacturing meth and initiation of the methamphetamine manufacture process, records show.
Investigators said all three were present when a methamphetamine lab using anhydrous ammonia exploded Nov. 28.
The two women were uninjured, but Mr. Stewart later was found at Dunlap’s North Valley Medical Center with burns to his arms and face, investigators said.
Assistant District Attorney Steve Strain said the cases against the three can proceed independently or together.
No bond has been set for Mr. Stewart because of a meth case already pending in court, authorities said.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
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