RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Authorities say they believe an 18-year-old man committed suicide after he was jailed on charges that he killed a man whose body was found in a suburban Raleigh park.
Local media outlets report Saturday that Jose Humberto Lara-Pineda was found unresponsive in his Wake County cell Wednesday evening and pronounced dead at a hospital. Wake County Sheriff’s spokesman says the cell held just one person.
Lara-Pineda was arrested a day earlier and charged with murder in the death of 28-year-old Fredys Odilo Del Cid Ramos.
Cyclists discovered Ramos’ body Sunday afternoon near Crabtree Creek Greenway. He had been strangled.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a detainer on Lara-Pineda, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador.
Authorities are still investigating Lara-Pineda’s death.