Inmates’ deaths draw investigation

Authorities are investigating after two inmates at separate Arkansas prisons were found unresponsive Sunday in their cells and later died.

Shortly before 4 a.m., inmate Joshua Autry, 33, was found by a correctional officer in his single-person cell at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, according to a news release.

The state Department of Correction said Autry had no signs of life and was transported to the unit infirmary. He was pronounced dead at 4:22 a.m. Records show Autry was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder out of Drew County.

Around 3:35 p.m. Sunday, 30-year- old Kevin Shelton was found unresponsive in his single-person cell by staff at the Varner Unit in Grady, officials said.

Correctional officers and unit medical staff provided treatment before transporting him to the unit’s infirmary.

Shelton, who was serving a 20-year sentence for negligent homicide out of Pulaski County, was pronounced dead at 4:02 p.m.

Shelton pleaded guilty in January 2013 in the deaths of two 15-year-old boys who were hit by a vehicle as they walked along Roosevelt Road in June 2012, according to online court filings.

The Arkansas State Police was contacted after both inmate deaths. That agency as well as the Correction Department will conduct investigations, the release said.