A Vicksburg man set to go to trial in December on a murder charge died early today at River Region Medical Center, where he had been for a week due to an illness reportedly brought on by pills gotten from another inmate.

Solomon “Dewey” Harris, 44, 1406 Main St., was pronounced dead at 4:10 a.m., said Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, who added that an autopsy will be performed at the Mississippi Crime Lab either today or Tuesday.

“I’m not 100 percent sure, but it appears he took some medication and had an allergic reaction,” said Huskey, who said he did not know what type of medication Harris had taken or if he took it regularly. “It wasn’t an overdose or anything like that. There was no trauma.”

Before being taken to the hospital, Harris was in the Issaquena County Correctional Facility, which houses overflow inmates from Vicksburg on a per-diem basis. Issaquena County Sheriff Richard Jones said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations will conduct an independent investigation. To his knowledge, Jones said, no medication was administered to Harris by Issaquena personnel.

“I was told he received the medication from some other inmate,” Jones said.

Harris was accused of killing 48-year-old Harold R. Scott in November 2007 at Scott’s home in Vicksburg, and had been held since May 22 due to overcrowding at the Warren County Jail. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said Harris was taken to River Region on Aug. 11 due to the illness.

In May, a grand jury indicted Harris for murder and his trial had been set for Dec. 1.

Records show Harris had been convicted of seven prior felonies dating back to 1985, including two for grand larceny, two for the sale of cocaine, burglary, the sale of marijuana and shoplifting. He was also to be charged with possession of a weapon after a felony conviction at his December trial, said District Attorney Ricky Smith.