SHELBY, N.C. -- Dwight Stacy Justice died in jail from natural causes, according to Cleveland County Coroner Dwight Tessneer.
Tessneer said that Justice died from a brain aneurysm when blood vessels ruptured at the base of his brain.
Justice was recently convicted of abusing his 2-year-old stepson in 2009 died in the Cleveland County Detention Center Tuesday morning.
Justice, 45, was found not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his stepson, Jeremiah, last week in a Cleveland County court. The jury ruled Justice was guilty of first-degree child abuse, a lesser charge than the first-degree murder felony he was facing.
He was behind bars awaiting sentencing.
Justice appeared fine when he was checked on at 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. His cellmate told officers Justice typically snored but was not snoring when emergency crews checked him at 5:15 a.m.
During his trial, Justice told emergency workers Jeremiah fell out of bed earlier in the day and then became unresponsive later, but the state presented medical professionals who treated Jeremiah and said he had severe internal bleeding.
A family attorney released a statement on Tuesday.
"During the course of the trial and actual trial, Stacey was more concerned about 11-year-old Curtis, who has been afflicted since birth with the diseases of Spina Bifida. Stacey had sole custody of Curtis and with the help from his family took excellent care of his son.
"After the jury verdict and Stacy was incarcerated, he wrote a letter to his family saying, 'Yes, I'm innocent and have been wrongly convicted, but I believe God controls all things and he put me here to learn something that will make me better for having to go through this.' The family also wants the public to know that we loved Stacey dearly and he will be dearly missed."
Justice's wife, Katy Swafford, will stand trial for the murder of her son beginning March 12 in a Lincoln County court. Katy Swafford declined to testify in Justice's trial.
Click here to read the official statement from the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.
