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Officer Facing Murder Charge Commits Suicide In Jail Cell

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A Baltimore police officer facing a murder charge in the death of his fiancee has died of an apparent suicide in his jail cell.

Maryland prison officials say James Smith was found unresponsive in his cell around 1 a.m. Monday. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Smith had been moved from Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center and was being held at another jail pending trial.

Smith's fiancee, 37-year-old Kendra Diggs, was fatally shot in May. Court documents show police responded to a home and found Diggs suffering from a wound to the face. An officer walked outside with Diggs, and according to the documents, Smith shot her in the head from a second-floor window. He then barricaded himself inside the house for several hours.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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