MONROE — An inmate’s death in a maximum security cell at the Green County Jail in June has been ruled to be from natural causes, according to officials.

A toxicology analysis found no substances in the blood of Kyle E. Bearden, 27, that would have caused his death, such as a drug or combination of drugs, according to Sheriff Jeff Skatrud.

“We didn’t expect to see any (substances)” but it was a relief to have the toxicology report confirm it, Skatrud said. “The pathologist ruled it was natural causes.”

Monica Hack, Green County coroner, confirmed Bearden died of natural causes, specifically gastrointestinal bleeding caused by an ulcer, or in the specific medical language, “upper-gastrointestinal hemorrhage arising from esophageal inlet patch.” An inlet patch is a congenital anomaly, typically asymptomatic, that can be complicated by the presence of an ulcer.

Bearden also had heart disease, with one artery blocked at 60 percent, but this was not the cause of his death, Hack said.

Bearden had no known medical issues when he was admitted to the jail, Skatrud said.

A death investigation by the Monroe Police Department found that Bearden did not disclose any medical problems to jail staff when he was booked into the jail, nor was he on any medications.

His death on June 10 was a “total surprise,” said Chief of Police Fred Kelley.

The day Bearden died was no different from others, Kelley said. Bearden appeared fine at breakfast and went back to bed after breakfast, which was his normal routine.

“Other inmates apparently noticed that he was abnormally snoring. He was making different sounds,” Kelley said. 

At about 11:40 a.m., the inmates in Bearden’s maximum security cellblock yelled out to alert jail deputies that Bearden was not breathing.

“When they went in there to wake him up for lunch, which was normal, he was unresponsive,” Kelley said.

First responders tried CPR and administered Narcan to Bearden in case he was overdosing on an opioid such as morphine or heroin. Narcan blocks the effects of opioids but has no effect on a person who has not consumed opioids.

Bearden had been jailed since January on a $50,000 cash bond for felony charges of first-degree child sexual assault involving two victims. The case was still pending at the time of his death.

Formerly of New Glarus, his last known address was in Tucson, Arizona.

Kelley said his detectives checked with a jail in Arizona where Bearden had stayed, and jail staff reported no known medical issues with him there, either.