A Cherokee County inmate died Friday at a local hospital, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said.

John Gordon Boatwright of Woodstock, 34, was taken to Northside Hospital-Cherokee after deputies found him in his jail cell “in a seated position with a ligature around his neck” shortly after 2 a.m., Sgt. Marianne Kelley said in a news release.

“Lifesaving efforts were attempted by deputies and medical staff before he was transported to Northside Cherokee Hospital by EMS where he was pronounced deceased,” Kelley said.

Boatwright was arrested in March on charges of aggravated sexual battery, three counts of child molestation, sexual battery, enticing a child for indecent purposes, three counts of interference with custody, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and burglary.

The GBI will perform an autopsy and investigate the incident, which is standard with an in-custody death, Kelley said.

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