JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The sheriff of Mississippi’s largest county has died, almost two weeks after he tested positive for COVID-19 amid an outbreak of the illness at a jail he oversaw.
The Hinds County Sheriff’s Department said an ambulance was sent to the home of Sheriff Lee Vance on Wednesday morning.
“Sheriff Vance was non-responsive when medical personnel arrived and pronounced deceased,” the department posted on Twitter.
Sheriff’s department Capt. Tyree Jones also confirmed the information to WLBT-TV.
The sheriff’s office announced July 23 that Vance had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in quarantine at home. It was not immediately known whether that illness caused his death.
Vance was elected sheriff in 2019. He had served more than 30 years with the Jackson Police Department and was chief from 2014 to 2017.
The Clarion Ledger reported that Vance had been vaccinated against COVID-19, and he tested positive as cases of the virus were spreading rapidly at the Hinds County jail.
