SYRACUSE (AP) -- Authorities are investigating the death of a pregnant inmate at the Onondaga County Justice Center jail.
Sheriff Kevin Walsh says 21-year-old Chuniece Patterson was arrested Tuesday morning on a bench warrant for numerous mischief, weapons, theft and contempt charges.
Early Thursday morning, Patterson was seen by a registered nurse after complaining of shortness of breath. Walsh says a jail deputy spoke with Patterson at 7:00 a.m. and when the deputy checked back at 7:45 a.m., Patterson was unresponsive on the floor of her cell. She was pronounced dead a short time later.
Walsh says it appears to be a natural death, but it wasn't clear whether Patterson died as a result of a complication with her pregnancy. Walsh says she was a"couple of months" pregnant.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
