Police awaiting toxicology results for suspicious death at L+M
New London — Police on Thursday said they're awaiting toxicology results to determine the cause of the "suspicious" death of a Norwich woman at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital on Tuesday that prompted a police response.
According to Deputy Chief Peter Reichard, the post-mortem examination of 32-year-old Roberta Karr came back inconclusive Wednesday.
New London patrol officers and detectives, as well as investigators from the Office of the State's Attorney, responded Tuesday after hospital officials contacted them regarding a suspicious death.
According to New London police's computer-aided dispatch log, the call that came in at 12:36 p.m. from L+M was listed as for a possible drug overdose.
Reichard on Thursday said he knew only that the call involved a suspicious death.
Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, L+M spokesman Mike O'Farrell said he couldn't comment about the specifics of the call because of laws regarding patients' privacy.
He also said he couldn't say whether anyone had visited Karr on the day of her death.
O'Farrell did, however, say that Karr was found unresponsive in a clinical area as opposed to in a lobby.
O'Farrell said the hospital has protocol in place for a variety of situations that can arise, whether a massive snowstorm, a hurricane, Ebola or a bomb threat like the one called in to the hospital later on Tuesday.
When that threat came in, he said, the words "code gray" were sounded over the intercom, alerting staff to the situation and prompting those who needed to respond to do so.
With the discovery of the unresponsive Karr, O'Farrell said, "we determined from our point of view that getting the New London Police Department and medical examiner involved was the right thing to do."
He said the hospital's "great relationship" with New London police showed in their response to both the suspicious death and the bomb threat.
Reichard said he could not yet comment as to whether foul play is suspected in Karr's death.
O'Farrell said L+M doesn't keep track of the identities of visitors — as is the case with many hospitals — but stressed that its public safety officials "are monitoring and watching over this campus 24/7" and regularly go through drills and other training sessions.
He also said the hospital rolled out a new visiting policy for the emergency department last month in an attempt to increase the safety of staff and patients and to lessen foot traffic in the busy department.
Now, except in extenuating circumstances, each patient may have only two visitors at a time, O'Farrell explained.
"We are always looking at different processes we could implement," O'Farrell said. "We're a community hospital. We take very seriously the notion of safety for patients and staff."
Reichard said the investigation is ongoing.
In 2014, Karr was one of two key witnesses in the trial of Daquan "Q" Holmes, who eventually was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in the May 21, 2011, shooting death of Johnny Amy — a man the prosecution said was not the intended target.
Holmes was sentenced to 54 years in prison.
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