A cause has not been determined in the death of a female inmate at a London jail, the regional supervising coroner says.

Dr. Jack Stanborough said tests, including toxicology, need to be completed in the death last week of the woman, who The Free Press has learned is Laura Straughan, a 25-year-old who was next due in court Dec. 2 on several charges

"I just hope she's at peace," an old friend of Straughan's said yesterday on condition her name not be published. "I'm shocked that it happened in jail but . . . she was always living on the edge."

Relatives of Straughan in London and Parkhill declined comment.

Straughan, her friend said, had two children -- the youngest of whom is not yet two years old -- though they each lived with their fathers.

She "did try to see them as much as she could," the friend noted. "She loved her kids."

It was just after 4 a.m. Friday when paramedics were called to the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre along Exeter Rd. to respond to an inmate in distress. The woman was transported to London hospi tal, and police were then called.

London police have said they do not consider foul play a factor in the death. They're no longer investigating but are assisting the coroner in his probe, Const. Amy Phillipo said.

According to court records, Straughan was facing charges ranging from uttering threats to assault to breaches and forged documents.

Many of the remaining questions surrounding the death could be answered if an inquest is called into the death.

Stanborough, the regional supervising coroner for Western Ontario, says that any in-custody death determined to be an accident, homicide or suicide warrants a mandatory inquest under the provincial coroner's act.

A natural death may also result in an inquest, but that's up to the discretion of the coroner.

A visitation for Straughan is scheduled for noon Friday at Forest Lawn Memorial Chapel at 1997 Dundas St. E. with the funeral to follow.

patrick.maloney@sunmedia.ca With files by Free Press reporter Jane Sims.