Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 26, 1990 TAG: 9003262327
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Kevin Wayne Davis, 27, of 2605 Leemount St., Salem, was discovered having breathing problems about 2:15 a.m. Sunday by a guard making routine rounds at the jail.
"[Davis] was having labored breathing and the guard indicated he had vomited," said Sgt. Roger Robinson, a spokesman for the Roanoke County Sheriff's Department.
Robinson said a corrections paramedic was called to the cell and cleared the inmate's airways. The Salem Rescue Squad then took Davis to Lewis-Gale Hospital, where he died soon afterward.
Davis' lawyer, Tom Blaylock, confirmed that his client had vomited, which apparently contributed to his breathing problems and death.
Both Blaylock and Robinson said, however, that they would not speculate on the exact cause of death or on what might have caused the vomiting.
There were no indications of foul play or suicide, they said. An autopsy was to be conducted today.
"Right now, we're handling this as a natural death," Robinson said.
Blaylock said that Davis was taking several medications that were being administered by jail officers, but he declined to specify what they were.
Robinson couldn't confirm if Davis was taking medication and wouldn't speculate on whether that might have been a factor in his death.
"Any time something like this happens you wonder how and why it happened. I guess we won't know anything really until the autopsy is done," he said.
Davis seemed to be healthy and in good spirits when Blaylock met with him Friday, Blaylock said.
Robinson said a guard who checked Davis about 30 minutes before he was found sick reported that they exchanged a few words and Davis appeared to be fine.
But another inmate, William Lewis Cunningham, who called the Roanoke Times & World-News on Sunday, said Davis had complained to guards about feeling sick Saturday.
Cunningham said Davis, who had a cell to himself, was usually quiet, but had repeatedly pounded on his cell door Saturday, only to be ignored.
Robinson denied that Davis was ignored by guards and emphasized that all inmates and cells are checked every 30 minutes.
Blaylock said Davis was being held at the jail on a series of breaking and entering, grand larceny and assault and battery convictions and was awaiting sentencing on April 20 in Salem Circuit Court.
He had been an inmate for nearly a month.
by CNB