The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a woman at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro. Melissa D. Miles, 41, of Robertsville was found alone and unresponsive in a jail cell at 2:18 p.m. Sept. 17, and she was pronounced dead at 2:31 p.m. that day, authorities reported.
She was being held at the jail on a probation violation filed in Franklin County, Sheriff Dave Marshak announced in a written statement today, Sept. 18.
Miles was arrested Sept. 13 and was being held on the probation violation since then, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said.
She had pleaded guilty in October 2020 to three counts of felony possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to five years in prison, but the sentence was suspended and she was placed on five years’ probation. On Aug. 30, a warrant was issued for her arrest for violating the conditions of her probation, according to court records.
While at the jail, it appeared Miles slipped from the top bunk at about 5 a.m. Sept. 17, which left her with a bleeding lip and injury to her wrist, so she was transported to an area hospital, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
She was examined there, and it was determined she was fit to be returned for confinement. She returned to Jefferson County Jail at 11:23 a.m. that day, the report said.
Miles did not appear to have suffered a concussion from the fall, but she did have a wrist brace that contained metal. Because of the metal in the brace, she was kept separate from the rest of the jail population, Bissell said.
When jail staff members found Miles unresponsive, they started life-saving measures and called emergency medical services for assistance, the report said.
The initial report from the Medical Examiner’s Office showed no signs that the cause of death was from an assault. However, an official cause of death had not been determined as of this afternoon, Bissell said.
The Sheriff’s Office does not suspect foul play, but the investigation is ongoing, Marshak said.
“Jails across the country will continue to see these kinds of deaths, and our jail is not immune from these incidents,” Marshak said. “The more high-risk inmates that pass through, the greater the likelihood that an incident will occur. Much of our inmate population has a long history of substance abuse, which is challenging, but we spend more than $1 million annually to maintain their health. Our medical staff does an outstanding job maintaining the health for a risky population that has historically avoided medical treatment outside of incarceration.”