A Bartholomew County Jail inmate who was found dead in her cell Aug. 9 died from acute methamphetamine intoxication.
The Bartholomew County Coroner’s office announced the cause of death Tuesday after toxicology results in the case of Cathy A. Hull, 61, of 3036 Fairlawn Court, were returned.
An autopsy for Hull was performed Aug. 11 and found no anatomical cause of death, the coroner’s office said.
It’s the second methamphetamine-related death at the jail since October 2017.
The toxicology and autopsy results from Hull have been turned over to the Indiana State Police, the investigating agency in the case, the coroner’s office said.
Arrest records show Hull was being held at the jail on a warrant arrest by the Columbus Police Department for violation of probation on an original charge of conversion.
Hill had been arrested the day before her death and was being held at the jail in lieu of $7,500 bond, jail officials said.
Jail personnel were distributing dinner trays on Aug. 9 and had placed Hull’s meal in the door shelf for her to pick up, said Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting. When the jail staff returned and saw the tray on the door, the jail officers attempted to knock and wake her but Hull did not respond, Nolting said.
First responders called to the jail at 4:40 p.m. performed CPR but were unable to revive her, Nolting said. Hull was alone in the cell when she was found unresponsive, the coroner said.
Indiana State Police said earlier they do not suspect foul play in Hull’s death.
Ten months earlier, Angela Blair, 42, Elizabethtown, overdosed on methamphetamine in the jail on Oct. 7, 2017.
Debin P. Gabbard of Columbus was sentenced to serve 21 years with the Indiana Department of Correction after smuggling narcotics into the jail that led to Blair’s death, Indiana State Police investigators said. A second inmate charged in the case — Mary L. Snyder, also of Columbus — pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and was ordered to serve two-and-a-half years in prison.
