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A man in custody on charges of strangling an acquaintance after an argument died in jail following "long-standing health problems," according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Katara Temika Paris, 34, had been in jail since last March. He had been in the jail's infirmary at the Falkenburg Road since April 1.
On Sunday a deputy on duty heard Paris call for help about 2:50 p.m. Sunday, the Sheriff's Office said. The deputy and two nurses found Paris in respiratory distress, the agency said. They tried CPR and called emergency medical workers to the scene, but they could not save Paris.
Authorities said that in March 2003, Paris and David Trainor, 37, got into an argument last year that turned physical. They said Paris shoved Trainor, and he hit his head on a marble windowsill before falling to the floor, and then took his belt from his pants and strangled him with it.
Paris put the man's body in a garbage bag, wrapped the bag in duct tape and put it in a shopping cart, deputies said. A pizza delivery man found the body along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.
Records show Paris was being held on charges of third-degree murder and tampering with evidence.