BERTIE CO., NC -- Sheriff Greg Atkins has asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to look into the death of a Windsor man who was in custody.

Clarence Smith, Jr., died during evaluation at a Windsor hospital Tuesday afternoon before being involuntarily committed for a mental illness, Atkins said.

Smith's family had requested the involuntary commitment, he added.

Smith's family says he was tased by sheriff's deputies. The family claims he was tased twice.

Video: Family says Bertie deputies used taser on man who died in custody

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The Sheriff's Department is calling this an in-custody death, but will not say whether Smith was tased.

Smith’s family told 13News he just got back into town a few weeks ago. They wanted to get him some mental help, but they say they never imagined he wouldn't survive the day.

"He was a good person, that's all I'm going to say," said the victim’s father, Clarence Smith, Sr. 

But with so many unanswered questions, Smith’s family can't begin to deal with their grief. 

Smith allegedly refused to go and put up a stuggle when deputies attempted to serve the court order and take him away for evaulation.

That's when the family says deputies tased smith twice in the upped body.

Image: Bertie County

Clarence Smith, Jr. died July 8, 2008 while in custody of the Sheriff's Department in Bertie County, N.C.

Once in the custody, Smith was conscious and talking as he was driven away. But within an hour, Smith was dead at a local hospital.

As the family and investigators await autopsy results, the State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate Smith's death.      

His family desperatly wants to know what happened after they saw him taken away.        

"He was just, oh... he was sweet and he loved everybody,” said sister Latrice Smith.

At the time he was taken into custody,  Smith had an outstanding warrant for felony drug charges.

Friends say Smith recently complained about some heart problems, but the family likely will not know if that played a role until the autopsy results are back, which could take several weeks.

Sheriff Atkins said no one in the department has been disciplined as a result of the death.

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