SCSO investigating after woman found 'unresponsive' in jail cell, later pronounced dead

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office is investigating a woman's death while she was detained at Shelby County Jail East for Women, the office said in an email statement.

The woman, Kimberly Clark, was found "unresponsive" in her cell by corrections officers around 1:15 a.m. Friday. She was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis by the Memphis Fire Department.

Clark, 43, was pronounced dead just over an hour later.

"Preliminary information from SCSO detectives suggests no signs of foul play, however, the official cause of death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner," SCSO said in an email statement. "This is an ongoing investigation."

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Jail East is where women are detained while awaiting trial and is located near Shelby Farms.

Clark, according to court records, was arrested on Aug. 2 and charged with criminal impersonation and permitting or facilitating escape. She was given a $2,500 bail on Aug. 3, less than 24 hours before her death.

According to an affidavit, a Memphis police officer had arrested a man with an active warrant, Staniko Brown, and placed him in the back seat of the squad cruiser.

"Shortly thereafter, a disturbance involving a crowd developed in which Officer Bond was compelled to intervene," the affidavit said. "After this issue was addressed, Officer Bond discovered that Brown had escaped from his squad car."

When police checked footage from the Real Time Crime Center, it showed a woman, later identified as Clark, "approach the vehicle and open the rear door, allowing Brown to flee from the vehicle."

The officer, according to the affidavit, recognized Clark and sent officers to look for her at her residence.

"Officer D. Anderson 14909 made the scene there and located a female subject, who was clearly visible in the [Real Time Crime Center] footage as the person responsible for releasing Brown," the affidavit said. "This subject identified herself as Wendy Clark Austin. She was taken into custody and transported to 170 N. Main for further investigation."

She was later identified by police as Kimberly Clark.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: SCSO: 'No signs of foul play' after woman dies in jail custody