An investigation is underway after a Lee County Jail inmate was found unresponsive in his cell.

Sheriff’s Investigator Andrew Peacock said the 33-year-old man was discovered about 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The inmate had made a ligature out of a sheet that was hung from a backet in the ceiling.

Jail staff immediately started life-saving efforts, and the inmate was taken to East Alabama Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The inmate’s name is being withheld pending notification of his family.

The Russell County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to conduct an independent investigation, which Peacock said is standard procedure.