GRANT COUNTY, Wash. — The Grant County Sheriff’s Office discovered a Grant County Jail inmate death was caused by a drug-overdose that occurred after another inmate gave the deceased some form of opiates the day before.
Jordan D. Tebow, 35, of Moses Lake was booked into the county jail Tuesday on charges of controlled substance homicide after authorities came to believe Tebow supplied narcotics to Derek A. Batton, 34, inside the jail in Aug., resulting in Batton’s death, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Tebow was booked on Aug. 10 and incarcerated on Aug. 11, just one day before Batton was found unconscious in the jail dorm and pronounced dead the morning of Aug. 12, authorities said.
Investigators began to suspect Tebow when a corrections deputy caught him giving drugs to another inmate on Aug. 13, according to authorities. This led investigators to interview Tebow and other inmates, which led them to believe Tebow brought heroin, Suboxone (a narcotic used for pain relief and opiate addiction treatment), and sleeping pills into the jail when he was booked on Aug. 10, the sheriff’s office said.
Witnesses told investigators that Tebow gave drugs to Batton as well as other inmates, according to the sheriff’s office. The Grant County Coroner determined in September that Batton died from “acute morphine intoxication” – likely heroin, according to authorities.
Along with controlled substance homicide, Tebow faces charges of possession/delivery of heroin, intimidating a witness and being a prisoner in possession of drugs, the sheriff’s office said. Tebow was released on $5,000 bond, according to authorities.
Since Batton’s death, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office purchased a full-body scanner and a mail scanner intended to stop the entry of contraband into the jail, according to authorities. The sheriff’s office said the mail scanner is installed, but the full-body scanner will be installed by the end of Dec.