The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is probing two inmate deaths within

a month at the Fayette County Jail.

An inmate at the Fayette County Jail died Sunday, hours after he was involved

in an altercation with jail personnel, a GBI spokesman said yesterday.

James E. Eppinger, 30, died at Fayette Community Hospital, said Joe Jackson,

the special agent in charge of the Greenville GBI office. Fayette County

Sheriff Randall Johnson asked the GBI to investigate the death, Jackson

added.

Eppinger was injured during an altercation with jail personnel as they

tried to move him from a cell, Jackson said. The GBI was notified of the

incident by the Sheriff's Department before Eppinger actually died.

"Evidently, he had been acting in a bizarre manner and caused a problem

that created a need to move him from the general population to another

area of the jail," Jackson said.

This is the second death this month of an inmate who was booked at the

jail. The GBI also is looking into the death of Pruitt McKinley, 45, of

Cartersville. McKinley died Aug. 9, and the sheriff's office also

requested that the GBI investigate, Jackson said.

Jackson didn't provide any details surrounding McKinley's death,

but he said the two incidents don't appear to be related, Jackson

said.

Autopsies have been conducted in both cases, though the results are expected

to take one month, Jackson noted.