SEBASTIAN COUNTY (KFSM) — The suspect in a double homicide who was found unresponsive in the Sebastian County Detention Center on Thursday has died, the sheriff's office said Friday morning (Nov. 30).
According to the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office, on Thursday (Nov. 29), Lewis Shores, 19, of Fort Smith was found unresponsive in his cell at the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center.
Shores died about 9:30 p.m. at Baptist Health-Fort Smith, according to Capt. Philip Pevehouse, public information officer for the sheriff's office. Shores' body will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for an autopsy.
The incident is still under investigation by the Arkansas State Police and the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office, Pevehouse said. The sheriff's office is conducting an internal review of jail policies, they said Thursday.
Shores was isolated in a cell by himself, and a plastic bag was found over his head, investigators said Thursday. CPR was administered by detention personnel, according to the sheriff's office.
Fort Smith EMS transported Shores to Baptist Health-Fort Smith.
Shores was arrested as a double homicide suspect in September. He was arrested after the bodies of two Fort Smith residents were found inside their home, sending police on a manhunt.
Shores' charges of aggravated residential burglary and theft of property were dismissed Friday, according to Sebastian County prosecutor Daniel Shue.
In criminal cases, if the person charged with crime dies, there is no defendant to prosecute, Shue said.