Inmate dies at Manatee County jail, sheriff’s office says. Medical issue suspected

A 79-year-old inmate died of a suspected medical issue on Tuesday at the Manatee County jail, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Willard Starr, of Palmetto, who was awaiting trial on sexual battery of a minor, was in a bed in the jail’s medical unit when he was found unresponsive around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Jail staff attempted life-saving measures but were not able to revive Starr, the sheriff’s office said.

Detectives say they found no signs of trauma or foul play. The Medical Examiners Office has not yet determined the official cause of death.

Starr had been in jail since March on a charge of sexual battery on a minor, a first-degree felony.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Starr made sexual advances and contact on multiple occasions with a 16-year-old girl at Terra Ceia RV Resort, where he lived and worked. The victim told detectives that she “prostituted” herself to Starr, and he bought her items in exchange, according to the affidavit.