The 21-year-old North Carolina woman had an "unconfirmed medical episode" while in a holding cell, authorities said.
NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP - The 21-year-old North Carolina woman who died in police custody earlier this month was being held on a drug paraphernalia charge after being arrested in the parking lot of a strip club, authorities said.
Katie Lee Thomas, of Elfand, North Carolina, was pronounced dead at 3:25 p.m. on Aug. 17 after being taken from Neptune Police headquarters to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Charles Webster said via email Wednesday night.
Thomas was arrested earlier that day, at 8:40 a.m., in the parking lot of Centerfolds Gentleman's Club on Highway 35 in Neptune on the drug paraphernalia charge, a disorderly persons offense, Webster said.
She was found unresponsive and not breathing inside a holding cell at 2:54 p.m., and authorities performed CPR, Webster said, in detailing the timeline of events for the first time.
The preliminary investigation also indicated that Thomas had an "unconfirmed medical episode" while in a jail cell and specifically when that medical episode occurred is still under investigation, Webster said.
An autopsy was performed and a determination on the cause of death is pending the toxicology results, which Webster said could take several weeks.
As of Wednesday evening, the circumstances surrounding her arrest and subsequent death were still part of an active and ongoing investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Webster said.
"Preliminary findings of that ongoing investigation indicate there was no physical abuse by the Neptune Township Police Department," he said.
Thomas's mother, Angie Thomas, told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday afternoon that authorities had not provided her family any details of her daughter's death at that time.
She also said her daughter - who had a 3-year-old son - was a free spirit with a "heart bigger than the sky," but had always been deeply troubled with mental health issues and had been "back and forth with friends in New Jersey for a couple months" prior to her death.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.