The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has announced the indictment of seven individuals in connection with the in-custody death of Elijah Lester Isbill. The investigation was launched at the request of 10th Judicial District Attorney General Steven Hatchett. Isbill was arrested on February 6 by the Madisonville Police Department and later found unresponsive at the Monroe County Jail after being placed in a restraint chair by correctional staff, according to information released by the TBI.
The Monroe County Grand Jury convened and, as of yesterday, returned indictments against seven individuals in connection with the death of Elijah Lester Isbill. The group includes three former correctional officers, one current officer, a correctional sergeant, and two nurses. Each faces charges related to varying degrees of misconduct or negligence leading up to Isbill’s death. He was pronounced dead after being transported from the jail to a local hospital following an emergency response. Those indicted are Joshua Duncan, Jerron Henry, Tyler Finger, Elijah Spencer, Tommy Reagan, Greg Mills, and Courtney Woods. The charges against them range from Official Misconduct to Criminally Negligent Homicide.
Details from the TBI press release reveal that Duncan, Henry, Finger, Spencer, and Reagan are each facing one count of Official Misconduct with a bond set at $5,000, Mills faces a charge of False Reports while Woods is charged with one count of Criminally Negligent Homicide; bond for these two is also set at $5,000. All seven individuals have since turned themselves in to Monroe County Jail as investigations proceed.
The charges filed are currently allegations and do not constitute evidence of guilt. All individuals indicted are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt through the legal process.
