A Black Hawk County jail inmate’s death earlier this month has been ruled accidental by state investigators. A report released by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says 34-year-old James Terrell Taylor died of an accidental overdose of drugs, which he ingested prior to his arrest.
Taylor was taken into custody on March 7th on two warrants for failing to appear for court dates on OWI and drug charges. While being booked at the Black Hawk County jail, Taylor was found unresponsive in an intake cell and later pronounced dead at a Waterloo hospital. The Iowa DCI was called in to investigate Taylor’s death.
Iowa State Medical Examiner Dr. Julia Goodin conducted an autopsy on March 9 and found no evidence of trauma. Gooden determined that Taylor died of acute amphetamine/methamphetamine intoxication and certified his death accidental.
By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein