Sand Mountain Reporter

GUNTERSVILLE — Marshall County Sheriff Scott Walls requested an independent review by the District Attorney’s Office into last week’s deaths of two jail inmates.

Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall confirmed the sheriff’s request Wednesday.

“It’s fairly routine for an outside agency to perform a general investigation to see what happened and to make sure there’s nothing of a criminal nature,” Marshall said.

Officials expect to present the results of the investigation to a grand jury in March.

The medical provider for the jail, Chattanooga-based Southern Health Partners, is also reviewing the two deaths, which are reportedly unrelated. The SHP risk manager was out of the office and unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Melvin David Magill, 70, of Boaz, died Christmas Day, and Marvin Franklin, 61, of Hueytown, died Christmas Eve, after being transported to Marshall Medical Center North.

A Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the inmates had complained of chest pains prior to their deaths.

Magill had a history of health issues and had been in jail for five months on charges of enticing a child for immoral purposes and sexual abuse, the spokesman said.

Franklin had been in jail since Dec. 13 on a charge of aggravated stalking and violation of a protection order, and did not have any known health issues when booked, the spokesman said.

“At this point, it appears absolutely everything was done properly,” Walls said.

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Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

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Albertville, Alabama 35950

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