A Poplar Bluff man died of natural causes Monday morning while being housed in the Butler County Justice Center.
An autopsy was performed on the body of Donald Ray Herrold III, 44, Tuesday morning by Dr. Russell Deidiker at Farmington, said Butler County Coroner Andy Moore.
“The autopsy results showed that (Herrold) had a fatal upper respiratory infection and died of natural causes,” Moore said.
Herrold’s death, according to Moore, had “nothing to do with him being incarcerated in the Butler County jail.”
Herrold had been incarcerated in the jail since he was booked in Thursday evening by the Poplar Bluff Police Department on suspicion of a drug offense and two outstanding warrants, said Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs.
Prior to his confinement, Herrold was “seen by a doctor in the emergency room” and deemed “fit for confinement,” Dobbs said.
At about 9 a.m. Monday, “corrections officers found (Herrold) unresponsive on a bathroom floor,” Dobbs said. “Medical staff was alerted and CPR was began as EMS was en route.”
Herrold, a resident of the 100 block of Angelia, was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center’s emergency room, Dobbs said.
“There was no preliminary indications as to why he would have died,” Dobbs said.
With assistance from the coroner’s office, Dobbs said, an autopsy was requested.
At the time of Herrold’s death, “he was being housed by himself, and we found no issues with staff or other inmates,” said Dobbs, who indicated Herrold had been housed in an observation cell for safety and security reasons.
On Monday morning, Corrections officers were “allowing him to take a shower in the booking area,” Dobbs said. “They had just accompanied him into the bathroom two minutes prior than he was found.”
Dobbs said the corrections officers were “checking on him to see if he was done because he had a criminal court appearance that they needed to get him to.”
According to Casenet, Herrold was supposed to appear in court for arraignment on the Class D misdemeanor of stealing before Associate Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce.
Herrold also was to appear before Pierce for a payment review hearing on an unrelated Class D misdemeanor of driving while revoked/suspended.
In March 2018, Herrold had pleaded guilty to that charge and was ordered to pay a $500 fine, as well as court costs. A warrant was issued for his failure to appear and failure to pay fines/costs.