Protesters demand answers in death of local man

UNION CITY, Tenn. — It’s been more than two months since one local man was taken into custody by law enforcement. A short time later, he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Protesters stood on Reelfoot Avenue and First Street in Union City Thursday afternoon, demanding answers as to what happened to Sterling Higgins.

“When he was arrested, we need and we want the dash cam,” local citizen Bobby Gordon said. “We want the body cam footage, and we would like to see the transport and taken to the facility at the Obion County Complex.”

According to the Obion County Sheriff’s Office, Union City police brought Higgins to the jail in the early morning of March 25. Investigators with the sheriff’s office say Higgins got into an altercation. They say he was uncooperative with officers and correctional staff and assaulted staff members. Investigators say he was subdued and then taken by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital. He was pronounced dead just before 3 a.m.

“Less than an hour after he was arrested, just about an hour, he was dead. Why? How? Those are kind of simple questions,” David Barber said.

In an email sent by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News, the TBI says, “This remains an active and ongoing investigation as we await autopsy results.”

“We were requested on March 25 by 27th District Attorney General Tommy Thomas to conduct a death investigation involving an inmate in the Obion County Jail that occurred that morning,” according to the TBI.

“We haven’t seen any evidence one way or the other, and that’s what we are asking for,” Barber said.

The TBI did confirm that Higgins was taken into custody on a count of criminal trespassing.