State Agents Probing Death of Choctaw County Jail Inmate

HUGO, Okla. (AP) — State agents are investigating the death of a 64-year-old inmate at the Choctaw County jail in Hugo, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported Friday.

Charles Gilliland was found dead in his cell Wednesday after he “possibly suffered a medical emergency and stopped breathing,” according to an OSBI statement.

Jail officials attempted life-saving measures but were unable to revive him, the release states.

Gilliland was being held in an isolated cell by himself after he was hospitalized following an Aug. 18 assault by two inmates. That assault was serious enough that he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, then airlifted to an Oklahoma City hospital.

Court records show Gilliland was jailed without bond on a first-degree murder charge.

Hugo is in Oklahoma’s southeastern corner, about 200 miles (321 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City.