A Morgan County Jail inmate facing driving under the influence charges died in custody.

Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn said he pronounced Randall Hopper, 65, of Hartselle dead in his bunk Saturday at 5:11 a.m.

“It appears that he died of natural causes but standard procedure when an inmate dies in custody is to send the body to state forensics for an autopsy, which is what we did,” Chunn said.

An officer at the jail said Hopper had been in custody without bail since Dec. 13 on his latest charge for a community corrections violation.

She said he was first arrested Aug. 16 for DUI, attempting to elude and improper lane usage. He was released from jail the same day in lieu of $1,600 bail.

The next arrest came Dec. 9 for DUI and he was released the next day on $1,000 bail.

RONNIE THOMAS