Joshua Darrin Hughes was found unconscious and unresponsive in the Fannin County Jail one day before he was scheduled to be transferred into the Drug Court program.
He was pronounced dead at Blue Ridge Medical Center about an hour later.
Months will likely pass before autopsy and toxicology results reveal what caused Hughes’ death, Fannin County Coroner Becky Callihan said.
Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby described Hughes death as “unattended,” a description with which Callihan agreed because the victim was alone at the time.
Hughes was by himnself in the laundry room in the basement of the jail Tuesday, December 12, when he was discovered by another inmate shortly after 7 p.m.
CPR was started and an ambulance was dispatched to the jail at 7:20 p.m.
Callihan said Hughes was pronounced dead at Blue Ridge Medical Center at 8:15 p.m. and she was called to the hospital soon afterwards.
Hughes’ remains were taken to the state medical examiner by the coroner’s office.
Kirby said Hughes, 41, was on “runaround” or trustee status in the jail.
He had earned the privilege to work in order to earn extra privileges, and regularly performed laundry duty. The laundry room is monitored by cameras. He had not been in the laundry room long before he was discovered.
Fannin County Coroner Becky Callihan said Hughes’ body has been sent to the state medical examiner to determine the cause of death, which will likely take two or three months before all test results are complete.
Once all that data is assembled, along with the findings of investigations by the sheriff’s office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) investigation, she will conduct an inquest into the death.
Hughes had been in jail since his arrest June 29, 2023, on numerous drug and weapons charges, and had been sentenced to the drug court program.