Officials believe natural causes are reason for death

A man on Tuesday morning was found unresponsive and blue in his bunk at the Polk County Jail less than a day after he was booked into jail and later pronounced dead at Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center, according to Sheriff Johnny Moats.

Moats said in a phone interview this morning that Cliff Walter Woods Jr., 62, had been booked into jail the previous afternoon and hadn’t been in jail long enough to face a first appearance hearing with a Magistrate Judge before he passed away.

He had been booked into the jail on charges after his arrest by Cedartown Police around 2:14 p.m. on Monday, August 7. Cedartown Police originally arrested him on charges of possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance, drugs not in original container and a probation violation charge.

After spending the night in jail, Woods got up around 7:50 a.m. and went to get breakfast. While doing so, nurses back on shift on Tuesday morning were on a medication round and handed him medication to take, and checked his vital signs.

“Everything was perfect with his vital signs,” Moats said.

Based off of security camera footage from the jail, Moats said that Woods went back to eating his breakfast, finished and went back to his cell to lay down and wait for his first appearance call.

When that time came, Woods didn’t respond to deputies when they shouted for him to come back down from his cell. One of the three other roommates in the cell with Woods called back to say that he was sleeping and wouldn’t respond.

Deputies went to find out what was wrong, and when they tried to wake Woods he was still unresponsible and ultimately they turned him over from his side facing the wall and found he was blue.

Moats said that officers got him out of the top bunk and immediately began CPR, additionally using an AED to try and revive him. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital just down the road, but sadly the efforts of medical personnel to save him were too late. Woods was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning.

“There were three inmates in there with him, and he never made a noise,” Moats said. “They all thought he was asleep.”

Moats also noted that this is the third such incident during his tenure.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to look into the matter, and an autopsy is being performed to determine what happened to Woods. Moats said it is likely a formality, since it appears he died of natural causes.

“Everyone did all they could to help Mr. Woods,” Moats said.

He added that the Polk County Sheriffs Office’s thoughts and prayers go out to the Woods family following his death.