Inmate death under investigation at Maury

MAURY — The State Bureau of Investigation continues to look into the death, and possible homicide, of a Maury Correctional Institution inmate that prison officials have deemed suspicious.

The SBI opened an investigation into the death of 40-year-old inmate Charles Branch at the request of Greene County Sheriff Lemmie Smith, whose office first responded to the prison at 5 a.m. Monday.

“The investigation began Monday and is under way,” said Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the SBI. “It is an ongoing investigation at this point.”

Prison staff members found Branch unresponsive in his cell. Branch was pronounced dead at Pitt County Memorial Hospital at 6:27 a.m.

Neither Talley nor Keith Acree, public affairs director for the N.C. Department of Correction, commented on the nature of the investigation, but Smith said investigators with the SBI’s Greenville office have ruled the death as a homicide. An official ruling on a cause of death is awaiting autopsy results.

“We are waiting on the SBI to do its work and see if any charges will be forthcoming,” Acree said. “We may see some charges in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

Acree said agents with the bureau remained at the 1,000-cell facility through Tuesday interviewing inmates and would return today to finish their investigation.

Branch was serving eight to 11 years for convictions in Johnston County as a habitual felon and for driving while intoxicated.

Talley would not comment on possible criminal charges in the death.

“The standard procedure in an SBI investigation is SBI agents conduct a thorough investigation and then share their findings with the district attorney in whose jurisdiction the incident is alleged to have occurred,” Talley said. “The DA then makes the decision about whether or not to bring charges.”

Branson Vickory, district attorney of Judicial District 8A, which includes Greene County, said investigators contacted him Monday about the death, but have yet to update him on the status of their investigation since then.

“I do not have a whole lot of information right now,” Vickory said. “When I get the report, I will then know if we should proceed with charges.”

Vickory said investigators did not indicate when they would update him on their findings. 

The prison, which houses 935 people, returned to normal operations Tuesday afternoon after undergoing a modified lockdown, meaning inmates could move from place to place only with a staff escort, said Acree.

Wesley Brown can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wbrown@freedomenc.com.