Former escapee dies while in custody at VZC Jail

Just months after Van Zandt County settled the wrongful death of a inmate Michael Peden, the Van Zandt County Jail has reported another death.

Jay Scott McEvers, 47, an inmate died Aug. 4 while in his VZC jail cell.  

In April, McEvers staged an escape from the jail with a “facsimile firearm.”  He was recaptured 12 hours later by VZC law enforcement officers.  

In a press release, the VZC Sheriff’s Office confirmed the death of McEvers while also notifying the public that the investigation would be handled by the Texas Rangers.
“It is with great sorrow that we confirm the in-custody death of Jay McEvers, 47, of Canton on Aug. 4, 2016. Mr. McEvers was found unresponsive in his single occupancy cell and was later pronounced deceased. The investigation is being conducted by the DPS Texas Rangers and the cause of death is pending autopsy results. Contrary to what some local news agencies published Mr. McEvers was not found hanging in his cell,” the news release states

McEvers had used family members and known associations to facilitate his escape, VZC Sheriff Lindsey Ray said.

Officials know how McEvers made his escape, Ray said, and there are no security issues at the jail.  “Any time an escape occurs, we always look how did it happen,” he said. “Sometimes we look at … and I want to be really careful here because I never try to look for solutions to problems that don’t exist, but sometimes we find out the very engineering of the facility can assist these inmates. We believe he was able to use an actual engineering issue with the building to facilitate his escape.”

It later came to light that McEvers had carved a bar of soap to simulate the look of a firearm.

VZC Jail inmate Michael Peden died in the jail in 2013

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