LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of an inmate at the Gwinnett County jail. The inmate, 53-year-old David Jason Kelley, was booked into jail earlier this month for three charges involving child molestation.
Kelley met with his public defense attorney the morning of February 5, according to jail records, to discuss his child molestation charges; officials say the discussion included information about any possible sentencing that could come if Kelley was found guilty. About an hour after Kelley’s meeting with his attorney regarding his child molestation charges, records show Kelley was found dead inside his cell.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office says that based on the evidence indicating the manner of death, they do not suspect foul play and do not believe anyone else was involved in Kelley’s death.
During the time Kelley was found, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office was conducting a program called “Operation Take Back.” Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Department Director Chief Cleophas Atwater said it was a multi-division operation where Gwinnett Sheriff’s deputies from different divisions of the agency swept the entire jail, making sure every cell was in good condition while also looking for illegal contraband and drugs during the thorough inspection.
“It was an inspection of every cell and a search to make sure inmates didn’t have any contraband. So it served two purposes,” said Atwater.
Because of the robust presence of the other deputies conducting the sweep, Atwater says the jail’s staffing was more than double their usual staffing.
According to jail records, Kelley had been in custody for about three days. Atwater said during the time Kelley was in custody, Kelley showed no signs he was thinking about killing himself and he had no incidents with staff or other inmates.
The GBI has interviewed jail staff as part of their investigation and Atwater says they won’t be able to release further information until the GBI investigation is complete.
