A medical problem, not an attack, took the life of a Silverdale workhouse inmate, according to the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office.
Madison Bailee Deal, 26, died early Thursday morning at Erlanger hospital. She had been at Silverdale since she turned herself in Aug. 10 on a charge of violating probation for misdemeanor theft.
On Friday, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office released a statement on the preliminary autopsy findings by the county medical examiner's office.
"This preliminary examination determined that Madison Bailee Deal's death was due to a medical event and not a result of physical trauma," stated the release by sheriff's office spokesman Matt Lea.
He added that the final autopsy report must wait for microbiology and toxicology reports. Toxicology test results can take months to arrive.
The statement didn't address whether Deal showed signs of being in a fight. A friend of the family told the Times Free Press the family had been told Deal was "jumped and beat up" by other inmates days before she died.
On Thursday, Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston asked the sheriff's office to investigate Deal's death. Pinkston's spokeswoman, Melydia Clewell, said Deal "had no known pre-existing medical conditions."
Lea said Friday that investigation is ongoing.
Authorities at Silverdale and Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, which manages the facility for Hamilton County, have not responded to queries about the death.
On Friday, Deal's attorney, Bryan Hoss, said her family is not yet ready to comment.
"We are sitting and watching and cooperating with the authorities," Hoss said.