Woman arrested on minor drug paraphernalia charge found dead in NJ jail cell

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP — Police are not offering many details about the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a North Carolina who died after her arrest for a petty drug crime in this Monmouth County township.

Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Charlie Webster said Katie Lee Thomas, 21, was arrested on Aug. 17 for possession of drug paraphernalia, a disorderly persons offense often handled in municipal court . She was found in her cell at the department unconscious and not breathing, according to Webster.

After CPR was administered, Thomas was taken to nearby Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Webster would not disclose the time between when Thomas was arrested and found in her cell. He also did not say why Thomas was in Neptune or where she was arrested.

Thomas was laid to rest at a service in Hillsborough, North Carolina, according to her obituary, which said she had a son.

"She had a gypsy soul and danced through life to the beat of her own song. She was passionate about modeling and photography and had a smile that could light up the darkest night," the obituary says.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.