A Tyler man who was accused of the mutilation death of his girlfriend earlier this year is dead.

Smith County Justice of the Peace James Meredith said he pronounced Christopher McCuin dead Sunday afternoon at East Texas Medical Center.

Sheriff's officials said McCuin had been found unresponsive in his Smith County jail cell, Tyler television station KLTV reported.

Meredith said the death didn't appear to be from foul play.

He said an autopsy is planned. McCuin, 26, was charged with capital murder in January in the death of 21-year-old Jana Shearer.

Police said they found an ear boiling in a pot on a stovetop at the crime scene, and a hunk of flesh on a plate and impaled on a fork at the kitchen table.

Authorities say it was unclear whether McCuin consumed any part of the woman's body.