Lafayette inmate’s death being investigated by sheriff’s department

Published 4:19 pm Monday, August 7, 2017

An inmate died Friday at the Lafayette County Detention Center, according to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department.

Thomas Hamer III, of Michigan City, Mississippi, was transported via ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. His body has been transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Jackson for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Foul play is not expected in Hamer’s death at this time, according to information released this afternoon by the sheriff’s department.

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Hamer was being held on federal charges of possession of cocaine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was scheduled to sign a plea agreement at the Federal Courthouse in Oxford on Wednesday.

He was arrested in April along with his two brothers, Thomas Lamont Hamer and Nakera Hamer after FBI agents raided their Walnut home. Nakera is still awaiting trial for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms. Thomas Lamont pleaded guilty in July to a charge of being in possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and is set to be sentenced in November.

This is a developing story.