CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A Crawford County prosecutor has amended the charges against a Fort Smith man charged with manslaughter after his nephew died in custody.

David Alverson, 50, was charged in Crawford County Circuit Court with felony manslaughter and an additional count as a habitual offender on December 13, 2022. Alverson’s nephew, Jacob Jones, 26, was arrested by Van Buren police on an outstanding warrant on October 14, 2022, and video taken inside a police cruiser showed him remove a bag of what appeared to be drugs and swallow it beside Alverson.

Jones was booked into the Crawford County jail and died hours later. Sheriff Jim Damante said that a medical examiner confirmed that the bag Jones swallowed broke open in the man’s stomach and the cause of death was ruled as an overdose.

On March 14, prosecuting attorney Kevin R. Holmes filed an amendment with the court, adding two new charges against Alverson. Count three against the defendant is for the introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another person, a class B felony, while count four is possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony.

Alverson has a pretrial hearing scheduled for April 4.