Fiancée of Wake County inmate found dead breaks silence, wants answers

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Tyteiona Bridges heard from her fiancé, 19-year-old Da'Marious McClain less than six hours before he took his final breath. McClain was awaiting further trial dates for criminal charges related to common law robbery, assault inflicting serious injury, and other lower-level charges.

"He told me he was doing OK," said Bridges. "He was ready to come home. He told me it should be soon."

According to Bridges, McClain was working on accepting a deal with attorneys that would secure his release, albeit with conditions.

"He had a business that he was setting up, too," he said.

Unfortunately, McClain would not get to see those plans sprout to fruition.

The father of three, two of whom are with Bridges, was found unresponsive in his single-person cell in the afternoon hours of July 24 at the Wake County Detention Center as the staff was making their rounds.

In a news release, the Wake County Sheriff's Office said, "Detention Officers and medical staff immediately started CPR. Fire and EMS arrived and started rendering aid. Despite medical efforts, McClain passed away."

The release did not indicate the cause of death. Bridges said she has not received any answers as to how and why her fiancé died. She wants to know how he was found, what his body looked like, and other adjective descriptors to provide some form of closure.

"We can't get answers to that. So it's kind of like nagging at our skin," said Bridges. "It's picking at our soul because we're not able to rest. We're losing sleep because we want to know what happened to our baby."

Court records show McClain's most recent court appearance was July 17, a week before his death, for the charges that sent him to jail. McClain was also scheduled for court on July 25 for an assault on a female charge against a separate woman.

Bridges said she understands that McClain had legal troubles, but she said he had a good heart and always carried a smile around with him and would help people out.

She is saddened by how slowly things are playing out.

"Yes, they're incarcerated," Bridges said, "But they're still human. It's not right. It's no justice in that. You're trying to give justice for something they did, and you're putting their life and their health in danger. It's not sitting right with me or their families."