Kentucky State Police say the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office in Madisonville found that the only signs of trauma to 39-year-old Marcus J. Penman appear to have been self-inflicted.
Blood tests results are still pending, and an official determination of cause of death will be made when those tests are completed.
On Tuesday afternoon, Penman was in restrictive custody when he reportedly began harming himself and prison staff attempted to intervene. An ambulance was called to the scene, but Penman was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lyon County Deputy Coroner.
Original Story:
An investigation has begun into the death of an inmate at Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville.
According to Kentucky State Police, dispatch received a call from the penitentiary on Tuesday around 2:30 pm for an inmate not breathing. Lyon County Ambulance Service responded, and upon their arrival, they requested the coroner be notified.
Lyon County Deputy Coroner Sheena Snow arrived at the penitentiary a short time later, along with a KSP Trooper. Deputy Snow pronounced the inmate, 39-year-old Marcus J. Penman, originally of Hopkinsville, dead at the scene.
The Kentucky Department of
Corrections says Penman was being housed in the restrictive custody
unit because he had been fighting. Officials say he began harming
himself and staff attempted to prevent the behavior.
Kentucky State Police continue to investigate.