SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 11, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Trevyn Reed Smith, Weber State University’s career football rushing leader, died on July 4 after spending the final three days of his life in the Salt Lake County Jail.
Officers had arrested 32-year-old Smith July 1 on warrants, and he was booked into jail.
“I can confirm there was a medical incident and he was transported to the hospital,” Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Hunter told Gephardt Daily.
“Beyond that, the incident is being investigated by South Salt Lake Police so we will not be commenting further.”
Smith was arrested by Utah Highway Patrol officers working in the Rio Grande area of downtown Salt Lake City. According to reports, Smith had been staying at a nearby homeless shelter.
Officers checked Smith’s name and found the warrant to appear in court on previous charges of possession or use of a controlled substances, a class A misdemeanor; possession or use of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor; and driving on a denied licence, a class C misdemeanor.
After the investigation into Smith’s death in custody is complete, a report with findings will be released.
Weber State Football tweeted about Smith’s death on July 6:
“With heavy hearts we mourn the passing of Wildcat football great Trevyn Smith who passed away this week. He’s still WSU’s career leader in rushing and earned first-team All-#BigSkyFB honors four times from 2006-09. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family.”
Smith’s former WSU football coach, Matt Hammer, had tweeted the news a day earlier:
“My thoughts and prayers go out to Erica and the kids, Reed and the family,” the post says. “Trevyn was one of my favorite people. He will be deeply missed. God bless the glorious reunion with you and your mom, Trev. Words can’t express the sadness that I feel tonight. Red easy my dude until we meet again.”
Smith had been in ill health and in trouble with the law in recent years, according to multiple reports.
To read Smith’s obituary, click here.
