HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. — Three inmates at Huntington County Jail are facing additional charges and a fourth person is now behind bars following an investigation into an inmate's death last month.
Nicholas Parks, 42, of Bunker Hill, was found unresponsive in his cell at around 3 a.m. on Oct. 22. Jail staff attempted to resuscitate Parks, state police said, until medics arrived and took over. However, first responders' efforts were unsuccessful and Parks was pronounced dead. Parks' final toxicology results are still pending.
State police opened an investigation into Parks' death. As a result of that investigation, three inmates are facing additional charges.
Court records show 22-year-old Michael Kelly Jr., 40-year-old Jacob Lee Landon Johnson and 36-year-old Nicholas Ryan Shepperd have been charged with two counts of dealing a controlled substance resulting in death.
Kelly has also been charged with trafficking with an inmate but the article trafficked is a controlled substance.
Investigators handling the case also served a search warrant in Huntington on Oct. 28.
That search, in the 400 block of Garfield Street, ended in the arrest of 41-year-old Duane Barnes.
Barnes has been charged with the following crimes:
- Two counts of dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death
- Dealing in a narcotic drug manufacture/deliver/finance - 10 or more grams
- Dealing in methamphetamine/amount of 10 or more grams
- Possession of a narcotic drug
- Possession of methamphetamine b/t 10 & 28 grams
- Trafficking with an inmate but the article trafficked is a controlled substance
Barnes is being held at the Huntington County Jail.
