byterian Church. He was a son of the late Charles and Rose Houchins Meredith and husband of the late Dorothy Bryant Meredith.

LOUISVILLE The FBI is beginning a preliminary investigation into the death of a Bowling Green woman who died while an inmate at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women near Pewee Valley. Sherry Edwards Sloan, 27, died Feb. 8 at Norton Hospital in Louisville after she was found on the floor of her cell. A Jefferson County deputy coroner determined Sloans death came after a seizure, but her family does not believe it was accidental. Sloan, who was serving a seven-year sentence for assault, was found by a guard in the prisons Special Management Unit, lying on her stomach and not breathing, according to records from the Department of Corrections. A nurse attempted CPR on Sloan, who was taken by Shelby County Emergency Medical Services to the hospital, where she later died. Sloans death was attributed to hypoxic encephalipathy, or a lack of oxygen due to seizure activity, said Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Jo Ann Farmer. A final diagnosis completed in March revealed that Sloan also had contusions on her right forehead and eye, her right hand, arm and legs and that she also had several fractured ribs. Farmer said the fractures could have come from chest compressions during CPR and that there were no other lethal injuries to her body. Flora Templeton Stuart, an attorney representing Sloans family, sent a letter to the FBI last week outlining the familys beliefs and prompting the bureau to open the investigation, said David Beyer, a spokesman for the FBIs Louisville office. It is our belief that Sherry Sloan was beaten to death in prison, Stuart wrote. Stuart was out of town Saturday and could not be reached for comment. Sloans sister, Debra Jones, and her father, Howard Lindsey, said they do not believe she died of natural causes. They held a news conference in Louisville on Friday to call attention to the death. Lindsey said that Sloan complained that she was mistreated while in jail because she was overweight. Carol Czirr, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Correction, said Saturday that Sloan weighed 408 pounds and was regularly receiving medical care while in prison. Czirr said her department has not been contacted by the FBI but found no foul play was involved in the death. The department welcomes the investigation and hopefully the end result will provide some answers to the family, Czirr said in a telephone interview Saturday. The Associated Press contributed to this story.