Although Polk County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating the death of this inmate, which happened on Wednesday, they say all signs point to natural causes, due to the inmate’s age and a heart condition that he suffered.
Andrew Delille had lived at 2202 Marjorie Road in Lakeland until he got arrested on May 24, charged with violation of probation.
The VOP had been filed by Delille’s Florida Department of Corrections probation officer after Delille failed to comply with a condition of his probation — that he attend a sex offender treatment program.
He was originally arrested on June 10, 2009, and charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under the age of 12.
According to Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives, that 2009 investigation led to Delille being charged with having, on more than one occasion, performed oral sex on a child he had access to, who was between the ages of six and eight at the time.
Those charges were later reduced to aggravated battery, and Delille was placed on probation and released from custody on June 12, 2009.
On May 22, though, a Violation Of Probation warrant was issued by his probation officer, who wrote to the courts that Delille had “failed to actively participate in and successfully complete a sex offender treatment program.” Delille was arrested on May 25.
On May 29, a judge ordered that he be remanded into custody until a hearing on June 20, at which time an evidentiary hearing was scheduled for July 30.
Until then, Delille remained in custody in the Polk County Jail, where he was housed in the South County Jail medical dormitory “S Med.” It’s an area used to house inmates with medical needs or disabilities.
Around 7:10 p.m. on Wednesday, fellows inmates reported to corrections officers that Delille had suddenly grabbed his stomach and began calling for help.
“Polk County Sheriff’s Office Detention deputies immediately ran to assist Delille, and he was transported to the South County Jail’s main medical clinic where he was assessed by nursing personnel,” noted Donna Wood, the public information officer for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, in her report on the death.
Jail personnel called Emergency Medical Services at 7:19 p.m. to take Delille to a nearby hospital for assessment and treatment. EMS arrived at 8:06 p.m., and Delille was taken to Lake Wales Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 8:59 p.m.
“According to initial reports, Delille likely had some kind of heart issue,” Wood noted. “He had a history of medical issues, including having a coronary stent placed within his right coronary artery approximately two years ago.”
An autopsy is expected to be conducted today by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
“This is an ongoing death investigation,” Wood said, adding that this is standard Polk County Sheriff’s Office policy.
That regulation calls for mandatory independent investigations to be conducted when an inmate dies at the Polk County Jail.
In addition, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office’s Administrative Investigations Section will be conducting its own internal review, while the Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts a death investigation.
The sheriff’s office, Wood said, has notified the State Attorney’s Office about this investigation, and will forward all paperwork on the investigation to that office for their review.
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