Medical examiner to determine cause of regional jail inmate's death

Posted to: News Portsmouth
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By Matthew Roy
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 22, 2008

PORTSMOUTH

More time is needed to determine why a 42-year-old Hampton Roads Regional Jail inmate died, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.

Donna Price said that the body of Valerie Joy Porch was examined Tuesday; more laboratory studies and further investigation are required before any conclusions on the cause of her death can be made.

Porch died Monday. Portsmouth police are investigating her death.

Porch’s mother, Ernestine Lacey of Virginia Beach, said her daughter was diagnosed in 2005 with pulmonary arterial hypertension. She said she asked jail staff on Sunday to take her daughter to a hospital.

Capt. Eugene Taylor III, a jail official, said Porch appeared to have died of natural causes. He said that federal privacy laws prohibit him from discussing details of Porch’s medical care.

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