Walker County authorities said an inmate's death early Friday morning appeared to be from natural causes, but officials are awaiting autopsy results to determine why the Summerville, Georgia, man died.
Christopher Jason Callahan, 50, experienced a medical emergency early Friday morning while being detained at the Walker County Jail, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office. In a letter to the county attorney shared with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Sheriff Steve Wilson said other inmates first alerted detention staff that Callahan was having trouble breathing that morning.
Officers and emergency medical services began CPR and other life-saving measures at the detention facility, the release said.
"The inmate was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased at approximately 2 a.m.," according to the Sheriff's Office.
Wilson said in a follow-up email there was no evidence of foul play.
The body was transported by the coroner to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab in Decatur, Georgia, for an autopsy, the release said. The bureau's website said that is usually completed the day after a body is received, but the autopsy report is issued in approximately four weeks.
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Wilson said Callahan was booked into jail March 11, after allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run in LaFayette, Georgia, on March 10. Callahan was located near the initial scene, Wilson said.
Georgia State Patrol charged Callahan with several traffic offenses, and the Sheriff's Office arrested him for two outstanding warrants from January, Wilson said: one for a felony probation violation warrant and the other for possession of methamphetamines.
At Callahan's first court appearance, Wilson said the magistrate judge dismissed the traffic charges.
(READ MORE: GBI investigating death of inmate at Walker County jail)
GBI spokesperson Natalie Ammons said in an email that the in-custody death of Callahan wasn't the bureau's case and the autopsy's results will be given to the Walker County Sheriff's Office.
Two 2021 in-custody deaths at the Walker County Jail were investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The Sheriff's Office website said the jail's daily population is about 200.
Special agents from the bureau's investigative division, according to the bureau's website, respond to requests for assistance from local officials "... to investigate major crimes such as: homicide, rape, child abuse, armed robbery, fraud and other felonies. Drug investigations can be initiated without request."
Ammons said the bureau doesn't keep statistics on in-custody deaths, and the inquiry was forwarded to the state's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, a government entity that provides criminal justice research and information, as well as advice on criminal justice law and policies.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.