An inmate at the Lee County Jail died in custody on Oct. 8, sheriff’s office officials confirmed to The Rant on Thursday.
Major Brian Estes of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office identified Billy Joe Hodge Jr. as the inmate who died. Estes said the matter was turned over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Further information about Hodge was not immediately available.
“It is standard protocol to request the assistance of the North Carolina SBI and have them investigate it, which we did immediately,” Estes said, noting that any further information about the case would have to come from that agency.
The SBI did was not immediately available for comment.