Family Demands Answers After Patient Dies at Local Mental Health Facility

SPRING HILL, FL – A death investigation is underway at a local mental health facility after a 27-year-old man died Saturday.

The decedent's aunt, Valorie Brown, contacted R News Sunday after officials at Springbrook Hospital notified her that her nephew, Jerod Travis Tabor, had passed away while in their care.

Brown told R News during a tearful interview that her nephew was diagnosed with schizophrenia after smoking marijuana and doing 'Spice' in college several years ago, but that since then, medication has kept his symptoms under control. Last Tuesday, Tabor was taken to Springbrook Hospital in Spring Hill, after he had a severe episode. Five days later, on his 27th Birthday, Tabor was found deceased in his room by hospital staff.

Brown tells R News that she believes her nephew was overmedicated due to his weight gain. She also doubts that the Hernando County Sheriff's Office will conduct an honest and thorough investigation due to several botched cases and alleged coverups under Sheriff Nienhuis' administration.

Brown says her family will be requesting a third-party private autopsy once the State Medical Examiner releases their findings.

R News will bring more on this story as it develops.