School official dies after being found unresponsive in cell

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a 32-year-old school administrator died days after he was found unresponsive in his holding cell at a Kansas City police station.

Terry “TJ” Farmer, director at the La Petite Academy in Liberty, had been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and was taken to a hospital twice while in custody, according to police, who released the incident report Tuesday. He died at the hospital Dec. 31, The Kansas City Star reports.

The death is being investigated as a possible suicide, police say. The medical examiner has not released the cause of death.

Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police department spokesman, said Farmer showed visible signs of impairment after an injury crash on Dec. 27 in northern Kansas City and was taken to a patrol division.

Later that night, he was taken to a hospital, but was released back into police custody a short time later, Becchina said.

Early the next morning, however, he was found unresponsive in his cell. He was rushed to the hospital again in critical condition. He was in a medical coma until he died.