Authorities: No foul play in woman's death
HUNTSVILLE — The death of an Oneida woman is still under investigation by local and state authorities, but investigators say that there is no reason to suspect foul play at this time.
Scott County Sheriff’s Department deputies and Scott County EMS were dispatched to a Helenwood Detour Road home early Sunday morning after a 911 call was received reporting that 44-year-old Dewanna Jones was not breathing.
Jones was pronounced dead at St. Mary’s Medical Center of Scott County after efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.
The cause of her death has not been released, but Sheriff Anthony Lay said Tuesday morning that preliminary results of an autopsy performed at the University of Tennessee Medical Center indicated that there is “currently no reason to suspect foul play.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist the Sheriff’s Department with its investigation into Jones’ death, with TBI Special Agent Steve Vinsant leading that investigation.
TBI investigations are not routine for deaths of natural causes, but Sheriff Lay indicated Tuesday that suspicious circumstances surrounding Jones’ death may have led to the TBI’s assistance.
“We expected something to come back [from the autopsy], but it did not,” Lay said.
Jones was at her home, located at 4339 Helenwood Detour Road, near the road’s intersection with Underpass Drive in Oneida, when her husband called 911 to report that she was not breathing. Sheriff’s Department Deputy Andy Davis was the first officer on the scene, followed by Deputy Esley Day, Sgt. David Woodard and Chief of Detectives Bill Lane, as well as paramedics from EMS. TBI Special Agent Vinsant later joined investigators at the scene.
Jones was an employee of the Scott County School System, where she worked as a substitute cafeteria employee. She had two children. An obituary was not available as of the Independent Herald’s press deadline.