Edward Leclair, 57, drank the liquid Thursday while his verdict was read in the 16th District Court in Denton, Texas. Leclair picked up the bottle and started drinking from it as soon as he was found guilty of the first of five counts of child sexual assault against one victim in 2016.
Afterward, Leclair was taken to his holding cell in Denton County Jail, where bailiffs later found him gray in the face and unconscious. Leclair would briefly vomit while in his cell before being taken to Medical City Denton, where he was pronounced dead.
"It wasn't like he was just taking sips of water," First Assistant Attorney Jamie Beck from the Denton County District Attorney’s Office said, according to WFAA. "He was literally throwing it back, so to speak."
Leclair was arrested in 2018 on a $30,000 bond, which he paid soon after. Jury selection happened Monday at the Denton County Courts Building.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy to find Leclair’s cause of death. Texas Rangers have taken the bottle into evidence for further investigation.