Inmate Dies While Playing Cards

WATKINSVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Authorities are investigating the death of an inmate who collapsed while playing cards at the Oconee County Jail.

Sheriff Scott Berry says 57-year-old Walter Lee Stephens of Atlanta collapsed Wednesday morning and was pronounced dead at 10:32 a.m. at Athens Regional Medical Center.

An autopsy was planned at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in DeKalb County to determine the cause of death.

The sheriff says the law requires the GBI and the Oconee County coroner's office to investigate the death. He says his office is conducting its own investigation. Berry says there's no reason to think that Stephens' death is "anything other than a natural, tragic death."

The sheriff says the jail nurse and emergency medical crews were unable to revive Stephens at the jail. The assistant special agent in charge of the GBI office in Athens -- Michael Ayers -- says Stephens' collapse was recorded by a sheriff's security camera.

Berry says Stephens was a month into serving a 120-day sentence for a probation violation stemming from burglary and car theft convictions.