Bryan County detainee died days after his arrest in GBI sex trafficking sting: With questions still unanswered, an investigation is ongoing

Jason Manuel Herrera, 39, of Richmond Hill, was found unresponsive by fellow prisoners in his Bryan County jail cell on the evening of Feb. 1, 2024. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah, placed on life support, and declared dead on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024.

Herrera was one of 17 people arrested in a recent Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) sting mission dubbed “Operation Not For Sale,” which targeted sex traffickers and sex buyers in the Bryan County area. The Savannah resident was booked into the Bryan County Detention Center on Jan. 25, 2024, jail records show.

The misdemeanor pandering charge for the arrestees, including Herrera, came with a bond of $895. But Herrera also was charged with felony possession of Methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug related charges. His bond was set for $9,360.
When reached by phone this week, the GBI Investigative Office for Region Five (including Bryan County), confirmed it was conducting an investigation into the death of Herrera. The autopsy on Herrera was performed at the GBI Crime Lab in Pooler on Monday, Feb. 5. A report from that autopsy, including cause of death, will be public record when it's completed within the next two months, according to the GBI.

Special Agent in Charge Lindsay Smith, who was promoted to her role at the GBI in April 2023, is heading up the investigation for the bureau.

"We are doing the investigation," she said during a Tuesday phone call with Connect Savannah. "But usually when we do cases like this, we confer with the requesting agency on who they want to handle the media. I have spoken to the (Bryan County) sheriff (Mark Crowe) about this, and he said that they were going to do media. That way, there would just be one voice concerning the case."

When asked by email on Tuesday where Herrera's body was taken after his Monday autopsy, the GBI's Office of Public Affairs replied Wednesday and said that Herrera was picked up (Wednesday) morning by Adams Funeral Services (AFS).

Although his body was released to AFS, the GBI on Wednesday sent an email to CS stating that "the investigation is ongoing."

Crowe spoke with CS on Wednesday afternoon and said that he had not been interviewed by Smith for the investigation. He also said that he did not know if Herrera was sharing a cell at the time that he was found unresponsive. Bryan County Detention Center (BCDC) houses a maximum of 68 inmates, and all but one of the 17 arrested by the GBI in "Operation Not For Sale" have been released on bail, jail bookings show.

Sheriff Crowe was elected in 2020. He declined to speak on the potential cause of death while citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as his reason. He did, however, speak to the rarity of BCDC experiencing detainee deaths.

"I'll tell you this, I have been in office for a little over three years. This is my first term as the sheriff, and I haven't had to deal with it in the three years I've been here," he said.

"I don't remember anything like this happening here since at least 2013. Very rare for Bryan County."

Herrera's imprisonment status is labeled as "released" and not "deceased" because, Crowe says, while Herrera lay on life support at St. Joseph's Hospital, a judge issued a bond of OR (own recognizance) to allow Herrera to be released from custody of Bryan County, officially. Jail bookings show Herrera was in custody for nine days. The majority of his time at St. Joseph's Hospital was spent on life support, according to Crowe.

"As far as I know, the day that he was taken to Saint Joseph's Hospital is the day he was put on life support."

Bryan County Coroner Bill Cox said his deputy coroner, Audie Powell, "worked the case" of Mr. Herrera. Powell said the GBI had already spoken to him as part of their investigation. When asked if he noticed any external signs of trauma on the body of Herrera, Powell declined to answer.

"I'm not going to divulge that information because it's an investigation and I don't have to," he said on a Feb. 6 phone call with CS. "We received a call that (Herrera) passed away from Saint Joseph's early Saturday morning. It's an inmate death. I mean, (the GBI) was involved way more than I was."

Smith summarized the standard method for what happens to the body after the death of an inmate in Georgia.

"Usually, once somebody dies, the coroner for the county is responsible for the body, and then through the investigating agency will coordinate with the GBI crime lab on where an autopsy is completed," she said.

"The coroner is then responsible for getting the body to the GBI crime lab, and then the autopsy is done. And then the coroner, again, is responsible for transportation from the lab to a funeral home of the family's choice. So that's usually how that works."

Directors for AFS said they were the ones who picked up Herrera at a Pooler GBI Crime Lab on Wednesday morning. Herrera was a military veteran, and his father was expected to arrive to Savannah to claim the body on Friday, Feb. 9. He will be buried at Beaufort (SC) National Cemetery on Tuesday, Feb. 13. The obituary for Herrera is posted on the AFS website.

Smith, the lead investigator for the GBI, said she had yet to see the body of Herrera, as of Tuesday. She had also not been told anything specific regarding the body's physical condition.

"I don't know," said Smith when asked about what she has found concerning Herrera's cause of death. "I was not at the autopsy, and I haven't been told. All of that will come out in the autopsy report which could take a few months if not longer."

Crowe and the Sheriff's office released a public statement on Monday, Feb. 5 concerning the death.

"We are saddened to inform you that we have been notified that, on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, Jason Manuel Herrera of Savannah, GA at St. Joseph Hospital in Savannah," the statement said. "We would like to express our sincerest condolences to the family of Mr. Herrera."

Smith said it is not uncommon for the GBI to investigate the death of an inmate that the bureau was responsible for arresting. This was the situation with Herrera after his arrest by the GBI in "Operation Not For Sale."

"We usually get requested from the jail in instances where somebody is dead or suspected to end up deceased," she said. "I guess, in a way, it could be anybody's (detainee). Whether it be a GBI arrestee or Bryan County Sheriff's Office arrestee. It's common."