Investigation underway into death of Baxter County inmate

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Larry Babin Jr. (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)

The death of a Baxter County Detention Center inmate is being investigated by the sheriff’s office and the Arkansas State Police. Fifty-one-year-old Larry Charles Babin Jr. of Cotter was pronounced dead Saturday morning after being transported by ambulance to Baxter Health.

According to Sheriff John Montgomery, jailers were performing routine cell checks around 6:30 and noticed Babin had not moved or changed positions in some time. When they went in the cell to check on Babin, he was alive and breathing, but he wasn’t responding to stimuli. An ambulance was dispatched to the detention center, and Babin was transported to the emergency room.

Babin had been booked into the detention center on Dec. 30 after being arrested by the state police on traffic charges, including driving while intoxicated, and on a misdemeanor contempt warrant from the Baxter County District Court. He had been scheduled to re-appear in Baxter County District Court this Thursday.

Babin’s body has been sent to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s Office in Little Rock for autopsy to determine cause and manner of death. Sheriff Montgomery says additional information cannot be released at the present time due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

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