A 27-year-old inmate at the Coffee County Jail died Saturday after jailers found him in "medical distress."
The inmate has been identified as Gunnar Roepke, 27, of Tullahoma, according to Coffee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Frank Watkins.
Roepke was being held on a domestic violence charge after he was arrested Sept. 25, Watkins said. He said Roepke was unable to make bond and therefore remained incarcerated.
"Mr. Roepke's cellmate called for assistance when he noticed that Mr. Roepke was in medical distress," Watkins said in an email. "Mr. Roepke did have some medical conditions upon entry into the facility."
The TBI was asked to assist in an investigation into the death.
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TBI spokesperson Josh DeVine said he could only confirm that the case remains "active and ongoing."
The death happened at Coffee County's $22 million jail, which opened in 2015 with 400 inmate beds.
Another inmate death happened at the facility in Manchester, Tennessee, in 2016, according to previous reports in the Manchester Times newspaper. David Arch Bass, 55, was found unresponsive in his cell after being arrested earlier that week for allegedly setting a 20-year-old woman on fire, the newspaper reported. His death was ruled a suicide after a TBI investigation.
Watkins said more would be known about Roepke's death when the TBI completes its part of the investigation.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.