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Inmate, 59, found dead in cell at Bessemer jail

A 59-year-old McCalla man being held at the Jefferson County Jail’s Bessemer division was found dead in his cell Monday, Sept. 7, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said.

Jail staff found the man unresponsive in a private cell about 2:15 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m., the coroner’s office said. His name was being withheld until his family could be notified.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday to determine the cause and manner of death.

The coroner’s office said there was no evidence of trauma or foul play.

It was the second death in the jail’s Bessemer division in two weeks. Joey Thomas Reach, 57, of Bessemer, who had been held since July 6 on a capital murder charge in the July 5 shooting death of Matthew James Burdett, was found dead in a private cell during a welfare check the night of Aug. 26, according to the coroner’s office, which reported no signs of foul play in that death either.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, was investigating Reach’s death.