State investigators are waiting on the results of an autopsy to determine what caused an inmate to die at the White County jail.
Jailers found 54-year-old Charles Anthony Mcleroy dead in his bed around 5:45 a.m. on August 24. Sheriff Rick Kelley says the discovery was made during the morning head count.
“The cause of death is unknown at this time,” says Kelley.
Jail records show Mcleroy, of Athens, was arrested on August 22 on a probation warrant. The sheriff’s office turned over its investigation into his death to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
GBI Public Affairs Director Nelly Miles tells Now Habersham McLeroy was in a cell by himself. She says an autopsy is pending. The investigation is active and ongoing.
Mcleroy’s is the third death the GBI has investigated at the White County Detention Center in recent years.
Three years ago, in August of 2020, 28-year-old Mercedes Brackett of Gainesville was found dead at the jail. And in May 2021, 38-year-old Joe Sertain of Gainesville died after suffering what jail administrators described as a “medical emergency.”
Now Habersham has requested information from the GBI on its investigations into both deaths.
