Hull man found hanged in Madison Co. Jail

A detention office discovered Royce Neil Lord, 41, 671 Piedmont Road, hanging from an air vent cover in the ceiling inside his cell.

"It was apparent that Lord threaded a bed sheet through the air vent cover and tied one end of the sheet around his neck,” stated the report from the Madison County Sheriff's Department.“Lord was immediately taken down and was found to be deceased. GBI agents and the coroner were called in to investigate. The investigation revealed no evidence of foul play.”

Madison County Captain Mike Benner said Lord was in a medical cell near the booking area where he was being observed and treated for a staph infection. His son Erik Lord, 19, was bonded out yesterday from Madison County, where he had been held since he and his mother, Paula Lord, 41, were arrested in late March. She is being held Oglethorpe County.

Lord and his son were both implicated in a series of burglaries in Oglethorpe County and Oglethorpe law officers arrested him. He was incarcerated in the Madison County Jail on April 29.

Royce Lord was charged with possession of a sawed off shotgun, machine gun, silencer, etc., possession, manufacture, distribution, VGCSA (Violation of the GA Controlled Substances Act) methamphetamine, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, possession, manufacture, distribution etc. VGCSA marijuana and two counts of possession, manufacture, distribution, etc., VGCSA methamphetamine.

According to the sheriff’s office, a raid conducted in conjunction with the Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (MANS) unit on March 27 yielded evidence of a methamphetamine lab, along with indicators of a cocaine cooking operation. Officers also discovered a quantity of meth and cocaine, as well as marijuana, according to the incident report.