A well-known Stanberry man suffered a seizure in court just as a Nodaway County jury found him guilty of statutory sodomy in an attack on a 14-year-old girl. Sheriff Darren White says Steven Parsons was pronounced dead at Heartland Regional Medical Center Thursday.

Sheriff White says he views the death as suspicious.

He would not speculate on widespread rumors that Parsons deliberately took his own life. A lawyer in the gallery says he saw Parsons ingest something shortly before he complained of intense nausea.

White and a paramedic who were in court at the time tended to Parsons initially. He was then transported to St Francis where his condition deteriorated. He was transported to Heartland Regional Medical Center, but White says his condition took a dramatic turn for the worse.

White says the coroner has taken the body to the Kansas City area, where an autopsy is pending. He says much of his investigation will hinge on the results of toxicology testing.

Parsons is from Stanberry. He was the owner of Parsons Tire in Maryville.