On June 6, Fayette County Sheriff Joey Laughlin requested the Indiana State Police investigate two inmate deaths that occurred around midnight June 5 in the Fayette County Jail.
The events started around 11 p.m. June 5 when an inmate was brought in on a warrant for a probation violation.
The preliminary investigation showed that Chad Sizemore, 37, of Connersville, was arrested June 5 in Fountain City, in Wayne County, by the Fountain City marshall on a warrant for probation violation from Fayette County.
After being transported to the Wayne-Fayette County line and being transferred to a deputy, Sizemore was brought to the Fayette County Jail where he was booked around 11 p.m. and placed in a holding cell with two other men.
Around midnight jail staff found the three men in their cell unresponsive. Jail staff immediately began rendering aid and summoned EMS. Fayette County EMS arrived, rendered aid and transported the men to Fayette Regional Health Hospital, where two of the men were pronounced dead.
Investigators believe that Chad Sizemore and Thomas Lohr, 30, of Connersville, died from ingesting a powder through inhalation. That powder had been smuggled into the jail by Sizemore in a body cavity
The third inmate who inhaled and ingested some of the powder, Weslee Jenkins, 26, was treated at Fayette Regional Health Hospital, then later at Reid Health in Richmond, where he recovered.
The official autopsy and toxicology report received from Fayette County Coroner Mary Poe on Friday lists the cause of death for Chad Sizemore and Thomas Lohr as acute carfentanil intoxication.
Carfentanil is an opioid used to tranquilize elephants and is considered 1,000 times more powerful than morphine.
The investigation is ongoing.