JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances surrounding the September 21 death of a man following his stay in the Duval County Jail.
JSO said that 37-year-old Michael Lavon Barfield Jr. died in a local hospital two weeks after being admitted. He had been arrested on September 4, and JSO said he was taken to the hospital three days later after reportedly complaining to medical staff about “an existing health condition.”
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“We are working closely with our partners at the District IV Medical Examiner’s Office and the circumstances surrounding Barfield’s death continue to be investigated,” wrote the agency.
The details of the reported health condition have not been released.
Barfield had been charged with armed drug trafficking and the sale of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
This is the eighth in-custody death in the Duval County Jail so far this year. In 2024, there were seven in-custody deaths, and in 2023, there were 15.