News Sentinel
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities announced Tuesday they found no criminal wrongdoing by law enforcement personnel involving the death of a Sevier County inmate who died hours after going into police custody earlier this year.
A Feb. 5 autopsy on Derek Lewis Pitts, 47, shows he died from a drug overdose and that interviews with jail staff among other witnesses indicate he was not mistreated, according to information released by 4th Judicial District Attorney General James “Jimmy” Dunn.
Pitts was jailed Feb. 3 following a chase that started in Sevier County and ended at a residence at 5310 Magazine Road where he lived with his parents, according to Dunn.
Pitts acted unruly as officers attempted to book him into jail. Later that evening, Pitts was found unconscious in his cell.
He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“The 11-page autopsy report finds no evidence of any life- threatening injury,” Dunn wrote in a statement released Tuesday. “A blue substance was found in the nasal cavity of Mr. Pitts by medical staff,” Dunn wrote in a statement. “The blue substance was analyzed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory and was found to contain hydrocodone. The report does state that the cause of death was an overdose of hydrocodone.”
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