SCPD Homicide Squad Detectives Ivestigate Death of Woman in Police Custody

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of a woman who was found unresponsive in a cell at the Fourth Precinct in Smithtown early this morning.

A detention attendant at the Fourth Precinct, located at 727 Veterans Memorial Highway, was making routine checks of prisoners and found a woman unresponsive on the floor of the cell at 5:30 a.m. The attendant notified officers who administered CPR.

The victim, Brenda Gaines, 48, who is undomiciled, was transported by Hauppauge Fire Department to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown where she was pronounced dead at 6:22 a.m. Her body was taken to the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner for an autopsy.  Preliminary investigation indicates that the death appears to be medically related.

Gaines had been in custody for Petit Larceny. She was being held overnight for arraignment.