An inmate in the custody of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office was confirmed dead Thursday after being moved from the Alachua County Jail to UF Health Shands Hospital.
Marcus Goodman, 32, died after experiencing a “medical emergency,” Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. wrote in a release. The case was transferred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the cause of death.
ACSO spokesperson Rebecca Butscher said she doesn’t know how long the investigation will take and isn’t aware of the specific circumstances of Goodman’s medical emergency.
Butscher declined to answer further questions about where or how he died.
“He was in our custody at the time of his death,” Butscher said. “Because of that, we have a memorandum of understanding with FDLE that they will handle all of those cases.”
Goodman was arrested for burglary in 2021, but he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, Butscher said. Goodman was detained and received treatment at the North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center, which specializes in substance abuse and mental health.
Thursday, he was scheduled to stand trial to reassess his mental state. He died later that day, after officials tried advanced methods to save his life, Butscher said.
The ACSO Office of Professional Standards will also conduct an internal investigation on whether “policies and procedures were followed,” according to a statement by Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr.
“As the sheriff of Alachua County, my deepest condolences go to Mr. Goodman’s family,” Watson said.
Contact Jack at jlemnus@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @JackLemnus.
Jack Lemnus is a fourth-year journalism major and rural Alachua reporter. He loves to practice his Spanish, fill his bookshelves and gatekeep what he considers underground music.
