Inmate dies from overdose in jail

WARSAW, Ind. -- This past Saturday an inmate at the Kosciusko County Jail overdosed and later died.

That man was 39-year-old Dennis McCrory who was arrested in February.

According to Sheriff Kyle Dukes, McCrory overdosed on March 9 around 8:00 p.m.

McCrory was then taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital. 

While there, officials made a decision to transfer him to Lutheran Hospital of Indiana in Fort Wayne where he died several hours later.

Charles Vest was an inmate at the jail when McCrory overdosed on Saturday.

Vest said inmates were trying to grab the officers' attention because McCrory was unconscious. 

"We heard banging on the door, a whole bunch of noise, this and that. We were looking out the window to see outside of the cell block,” Vest said.

When officers came to assess the situation, McCrory was given CPR and Narcan to reverse the overdose.

Despite those efforts, Vest said it was too little, too late.

"If they would have acted sooner, they probably could have saved his life," Vest said. "I don't know how anything is getting in there anyways, there is a full body scanner. It can see right through you."

That’s the big question. Back in September of 2018, the Kosciusko County Jail installed full-body scanners where you can see inside the body right down to the skeleton.

So how did this unknown substance even get inside the jail?

ABC57 spoke with McCrory's fiancée Jodi Springer and asked if he had a drug problem. She admitted he had been suffering from addiction for years but that doesn’t make him any less of a person. 

Meanwhile, Vest said no matter whether it's an overdose, a fight, or something else he believes jail officers should respond faster. 

"It could have been anybody in any situation. It could be an older person who couldn't defend themselves, not even a criminal at all. Somebody comes to attack them and there is nobody there to make sure they're safe," Vest said.

We spoke with Sheriff Dukes about the official report. He said it is not ready yet, they are waiting for the full toxicology report to come in.

ABC57 also asked if his department was fully staffed at the jail, he said he could always use more officers.

Sheriff Dukes said on the weekend, they have about five officers. When asked what the headcount is inside the jail, he said it's nearly 300 people.