Man dies while in MPD custody; independent investigation underway

“Our officers had stopped him around midnight for the minor traffic offense of running a stop sign and learned he was wanted on warrants from Claiborne Parish,” McIver said. “We contacted Claiborne and they asked us to hold him.”

McIver said Tate was compliant during the traffic stop and showed no signs of anxiety or distress when he was taken to police headquarters.

“We followed all standard procedures when he was booked, and at no time did he display any signs that he was troubled,” the chief said. “After he was placed in the cell, he asked for water and appeared to be handling the situation well.”

Holding cells at the station are monitored by surveillance cameras at the dispatch desk, and McIver said nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“The person monitoring the surveillance cameras noticed Tate appeared to be standing beside the cell’s cot, which didn’t seem unusual. But after noticing he appeared to be standing very still for longer than usual, the dispatcher notified an officer and requested a check on Tate,” McIver said.

When the officer arrived, he reportedly found Tate had hanged himself with a blanket taken from the cot inside the cell. Attempts to resuscitate proved unsuccessful.

“I immediately called Sheriff (Jason) Parker to initiate an independent investigation and his detectives were on the scene in just a few minutes,” McIver said. “The coroner’s office was also notified.”

Parker said the investigation is still in the early stages, but his detectives have found nothing to indicate anything other than Tate took his own life for unknown reasons.

“We will continue to look into this and hopefully we can find some answers to why he would decide to end his life like this,” Parker said.