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A 29-year-old woman who was admitted to the Janet S. York Correctional Institution on Tuesday evening died hours later at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, according to a Department of Correction spokeswoman.

Staff members at the women's prison were conducting a routine medical assessment of Alexandra Low when they determined she should be admitted to the facility's medical unit, according to DOC spokeswoman Karen Martucci. Medical staff determined she should be transported to an outside hospital, Martucci said.

Based on Low's condition, staff decided to call 911. An ambulance took Low to L+M, where she was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m., according to Martucci.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death and state police are investigating, according to Martucci.

Low, of Longmeadow, Mass., and James Russell, 27, of Windsor, had been arrested by Vernon Police on Monday after a motorist reported seeing two people shooting up drugs in a moving vehicle, according to a news report.

Low was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records. She was arraigned Tuesday in Superior Court in Rockville, where she was ordered held in lieu of $7,500 and taken to the women's prison.

k.florin@theday.com