A Texas man died Thursday shortly after being convicted of child sexual abuse. The prosecutor said Edward Leclair was seen drinking a bottle of liquid before having a medical emergency.
ìAs these verdicts were being read, he chugged a bottle of water he had at counsel table,î Denton County Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck told CNN Friday. Leclair was facing five counts of child sexual abuse relating to the same victim, Beck said, and had been free on bond until the verdict.
ìOur investigator noticed him chug the water,î Beck said, saying it appeared cloudy. ìHe told the bailiff he might want to go check on him. The bailiff did. He was unconscious in the holding cell,î according to Beck.
ìShortly after entering the holdover cell, he started vomiting, and emergency services were called,î Leclairís defense attorney, Mike Howard, told CNN Friday.
Howard said his client had taken a ìlong drink from a water bottleî while listening to the verdict, but he did not know what was in the bottle.
Beck said ìmedical interventionî took place in the courthouse before Leclair was taken away by ambulance.
Preliminary records from the Tarrant County Medical Examinerís Office say that Leclair was pronounced dead at the Medical City Denton hospital at 3:21 pm Thursday. An autopsy has been ordered, and the cause of death is listed as Pending.
A man on trial in Texas died Thursday after drinking from a large water bottle containing a cloudy liquid as a jury found him guilty of child sexual assault, officials said.
Edward Leclair, 57, was on trial in Denton, located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Dallas, on five counts involving one victim. The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office doesn’t yet list his cause or manner of death. Leclair had been released on bond following his arrest.
Prosecutor Jamie Beck told the Denton Record-Chronicle that Leclair didn’t drink from the water bottle until the verdict was read, then he “just chugged it.”
After the verdict, Leclair was sent to a holding cell next to the courtroom as the timing of his punishment phase was discussed. Beck said that an investigator assigned to the courtroom had told the bailiff what Leclair had done and suggested he check on him.
Leclair’s attorney, Mike Howard, said sheriff’s deputies gave Leclair medical aid until EMS arrived.
“I saw him being taken out on the gurney,” Howard told the newspaper.” His color and pallor didn’t look good – gray – and then he was taken to the hospital. Beyond that, that’s all I can say.”
According to authorities, Leclair died at the hospital. The Texas Rangers are now investigating.
