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Woman dies in Denver Sheriff's Department custody at Downtown Detention Center

A woman was found unconscious in her jail cell at the Downtown Detention Center in Denver on Monday, according to the Denver Sheriff's Department.

Few details were immediately available, but the department said the woman -- who has not yet been publicly identified -- was found around 9:30 a.m.

A medical team tried to revive her until paramedics arrived, but she was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff's department said in a statement Monday.

The Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center in downtown Denver
DENVER, CO - March 09: The Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center (also known as the Denver downtown detention center or Denver jail), part of the Denver Justice Center in downtown Denver, Colorado on March 9, 2016. Katie Wood/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Now the Denver Police Department will investigate the death, according to the sheriff's department. The woman's name and cause of death will be released by the coroner's office.

CBS News Colorado reached out to the sheriff's department with questions surrounding the woman's age and reason for being in custody, but the department has not yet responded.

It's not the first time someone has died in custody at the Downtown Detention Center in recent years.

Last year, two people died in the jail in February and October.

In April 2020, a man was found dead in his cell.

In 2015, Michael Marshall died at the jail after suffering an apparent heart attack. When the actual medical incident began and who's at fault remains in dispute; an attorney for Marshall's family says the fault lies with deputies at the jail but the District Attorney at the time declined to charge any of those deputies.

And in 2010, street preacher Marvin Booker died in the jail after being put in a headlock, sat on and shot with a taser by deputies. Prosecutors again declined to file criminal charges against the deputies despite the coroner's office ruling his death a homicide.

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