By JULIA MARTINEZ, staff reporter

UPDATED at 5:35 p.m.

Central freshman, Madison Murphy, 19, was pronounced dead at approximately 10:30 p.m. last night, the cause of death under investigation by police, according to Richard DeShields, associate dean of students.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. Thursday, housing staff received a call from a student living in Barto Hall that a student was in distress, DeShields said.

The housing staff responded, called 911 and were on scene when the paramedics arrived. Murphy was transported to Kittitas Valley Healthcare, according to DeShields. Students and housing staff also drove to KVH to support Murphy.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., a call confirmed that Murphy had died and that the formal cause of death was under investigation by campus police, DeShields said.

“It was our indication, because we were there, that it appeared on our end to be of natural causes,” DeShields said. “But again, it’s currently an investigation.”

A death due to natural causes indicates that there was no sign of external forces on the body, either inflicted by someone or by the self. Coroners generally cite it as a cause of death for illnesses and diseases.

“It didn’t seem to us, based on what we saw, there wasn’t anything that was out of the ordinary for any student,” DeShields said.

According to Paul Sander, deputy coroner for Kittitas County, “Pending an investigation, the coroner’s office has no comment.”

There is no confirmation on whether or not an autopsy will be performed and campus police are currently investigating whether or not drugs or alcohol were involved.

There are grief counselors available to students through University Housing, contact ResLife at 509-963-1324 for more information.

Details related to the incident will be released as new information comes in.