The death of a Carthage man at the Leake County Correctional Facility is under investigation. Roderick Cooks, 45, became unresponsive after being pulled over on Highway 488 near Freeny and arrested for careless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia last Friday. Sheriff Randy Atkinson says Cooks had a bag of what appeared to be drugs, possibly meth, in his mouth as he was being searched at the jail and refused to spit it out. The sheriff says, later, Cooks was being monitored in a holding cell when booking officers and a nurse noticed a problem—and despite the efforts of jail personnel and EMS who were called to scene, Cooks could not be revived. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is now in charge of the case. The State Crime Lab is testing the possible drugs that were found and will try to determine a cause of death.
