A Plymouth woman has been charged with third-degree murder in the heroin death of another inmate while both were in the Hennepin County jail.
Cortney Ann Metcalfe, 31, was charged in the fatal overdose of Kristina Duren, of St. Paul, who was found unresponsive in her bunk about 5:40 a.m. Jan. 21. Metcalfe previously had been charged with felony drug possession in connection with Duren's death.
Duren, 40, and Metcalfe were in custody for unrelated drug-related arrests. Video surveillance showed Duren making several trips to the bathroom and twice "grabbing something" off a shelf near her bed. The two also headed to the bathroom area together shortly before 3 a.m. Jan. 21.
Later that morning, nurses at the jail discovered Duren unresponsive, the affidavit read. She was declared dead at HCMC about 6:30 a.m. The autopsy found she died of heroin toxicity.
One day after Duren died, Metcalfe was brought to HCMC for a body cavity search, according to the drug possession charge against her. "Officers noted that [Metcalfe] was restless as she sat on the bench" at the hospital, the complaint read. "Officers observed a plastic bindle on the ground underneath where [Metcalfe] was seated."
The item contained a small amount of heroin, and Metcalfe admitted that she had concealed it in a body cavity.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
