TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says a preliminary autopsy indicated a 35-year-old female inmate at the Topeka Correctional Facility died of natural causes related to heart failure. Jessica Chapman died Monday after she collapsed at a scheduled appointment at the prison's medical clinic.
The KBI says Chapman had received medical treatment the previous weekend for chest pains. A corrections department spokeswoman says Chapman's death is not believed to be related to COVID-19.
The KBI investigates all deaths of inmates at prisons or jails, unless the person is under the care of a doctor. Chapman was serving time for a drug conviction in Barton County and forgery from Rice County.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials with Kansas’ state policing agency have begun an investigation into the death of an inmate at the women’s prison in Topeka, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation confirmed.
Jessica Chapman, 35, died Monday at the Kansas Department of Corrections’ TCF women’s prison. The death was initially confirmed through the KBI, because the Kansas prisons system did not send out a news release announcing the death — a departure from the agency’s normal procedure when an inmate dies in custody.
Officials have not released any details on how Chapman died. A spokeswoman for the prisons system did not immediately return email and phone messages left Wednesday by The Associated Press seeking comment.