Report: No foul play in Marion inmate’s death in March

Smyth County Commonwealth’s Attorney Phillip Blevins said a preliminary report shows no foul play and a criminal investigation is not being conducted following the death of an inmate earlier this year at the Marion Correctional Treatment Center.

The unidentified prisoner was found unresponsive in his cell on March 5th. The man’s autopsy results will be released in the coming months.

The Marion facility is named in a federal lawsuit filed by the sister of former inmate Charles Givens who claims the man was subjected to regular beatings and doused with cold water in freezing conditions inside the prison by correctional officers.

Givens, who was convicted of murdering his mother’s home health nurse in Lee County, suffered a brain injury as a child. He was found dead in his cell in February of 2022. A grand jury examined his case and called it suspicious. Givens’ autopsy said he died from blunt force trauma to the torso. The FBI is also reviewing the incident.

(Bristol BC Archive File photo)