TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Complications from chronic alcohol abuse are blamed in the death of a Topeka jail inmate.
An autopsy report related to the Sept. 19 death of 55-year-old Ruth Spence was released Thursday. The coroner, citing the chronic alcohol abuse, called the manner of death “natural.” No alcohol was found in her blood at the time of her death.
Spence was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Jail on Sept. 18 for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol and other crimes. She was found unresponsive in her cell the next day and taken to a hospital, where she died.