A 57-year-old woman died of natural causes earlier this week while in the custody of the Northern Branch Jail.
Caprice Fowler of Lompoc passed away Monday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Raquel Zick said Thursday.
“The autopsy revealed that this was a tragic, but unavoidable death,” Zick said. “The cause of death has been determined to be acute peritonitis due to a ruptured gastric ulcer. The manner of death is natural causes.”
Fowler was found unresponsive in her cell shortly after 5:30 p.m. Monday when a custody deputy checked on inmates.
One other inmate was in the four-person cell at the time. Another woman was being escorted back to the cell by staff when Fowler was found.
Custody deputies and jail medical immediately attempted lifesaving measures. County Fire Department and AMR personnel responded and took over life-saving measures but were unable to resuscitate the woman.
Deputies arrested Fowler March 19 on an outstanding felony arrest warrant related to being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition, the second criminal complaint filed this year against her.
She appeared in court last week where she was remanded to custody without bail.
The criminal complaint included six charges related to possessing firearms despite being prohibited after being on a mental-health hold in the past five years and having ammunition.
They included a Glock-19 9-mm gun, two .22-caliber pistols, a 20-gauge shotgun, and .223-caliber rifle.
She previously had been charged with two felony counts of cruelty of animals involving dogs named Cheyenne and Tobi, who was identified as a Corgi.
She also faced a sentencing enhancement alleging she used a knife during the crimes involving animals.
The criminal complaint was filed in January, but the allegations stemmed from December.
As part of her release after the animal cruelty charges, a judge ordered Fowler to avoid having animals of any kind, and to be subject to search and seizure at any time.