Three hours before Tiffany Reeves was scheduled to go before a Delaware judge Monday in Kent County Family Court, officials at the Sussex Correctional Institution found her dead in her cell.

Reeves, a 37-year-old mother of three from Smyrna, had been at the state prison near Georgetown since Friday, according to the Delaware Department of Correction. Court records indicate she was wanted on a warrant related to an unpaid fine and arrested Friday.

Unable to post $1,202 bail, she remained in the state's custody pending Monday's hearing.

What prompted her death and how she was discovered inside the facility remain unknown to family, friends and the public. The DOC turned over Reeves' body to the Division of Forensic Science for an autopsy, but those results will not be made public.

Woman, 37, held on $1,202 bail dies at Sussex Correctional Institution near Georgetown

The state did say that foul play was not suspected.

"I can’t provide specifics details surrounding Ms. Reeves’ death due to privacy laws," DOC spokeswoman Jayme Gravell said in an email Tuesday. "However, DOC is confident all medical and security procedures were followed appropriately."

Family and friends who knew Reeves, however, are struggling to understand how she entered prison Friday and was dead by Monday.

Pamela Dunning, who identified herself as a friend of Reeves, described her as a woman who struggled on and off with heroin and other drugs for years — a journey that left her estranged from family, without a place to live, and sometimes in jail.

"She was an energetic, loud, fun person," Dunning said. "She was fun. She made you laugh. And she always listened if you needed to talk."

Reeves' mother, Janine Grossnickle, said the only information she has been provided is that the autopsy showed no signs of foul play. Now, she's waiting for the results of a toxicology report – which can take six to eight weeks – to hopefully shed more light on what caused her daughter's death.

Between Reeves' battle with addiction and gastric bypass surgery in 2009, Grossnickle said her daughter had many health complications. Still, she's unsure what could have triggered her death, especially while in the state's custody.

"I've never buried a child before," Grossnickle said. "Whether they're 22 or 37, I don't care. Nobody knows what it's like."

Addiction had long ago ravaged Reeves' relationship with her mother, a battle that more and more Delaware parents face as the heroin and opioid epidemic grows worse.

Over the years, Reeves cycled through treatment, but never seemed to find success through what was available to her in Kent County, Grossnickle said.

Reeves' friend, Dunning, said Reeves left rehab about two months ago and was doing well. She was avoiding heroin and beginning the journey to get her three boys back after giving them up to the foster care system years ago, Dunning said.

According to Dunning, Reeves was also taking methadone, a form of medication-assisted treatment used to stave off heroin and opiate cravings. It's unclear whether she continued to receive that medication in prison while pending her hearing.

The DOC said inmates are allowed to continue their medication-assisted treatment while in prison or begin this treatment while incarcerated, but Reeves was not an inmate.

"I don't know if that played a part in it," Dunning said of Reeves withdrawing from methadone while in prison. "I thought they wake up in the morning at 4, so I don't understand how within two hours, she was dead."

"It's sad," she added. "She was a good person in a (bad) situation."

Court records show Reeves was arrested numerous times — largely in Kent County — for shoplifting, endangering the welfare of children, possessing drug paraphernalia and driving without a license, among other charges.

Some were dismissed, while others landed her with guilty convictions. Reeves' most recent arrest was on Aug. 3, when police charged her with criminal solicitation and possessing drug paraphernalia in Kent County.

Those charges were dropped Monday, according to court records. The fine listed in court papers appears unrelated to those charges.

But the reason behind her prison stay and what happened within the walls of Sussex Correctional Institution are answers that Grossnickle has yet to find out. The mother wants to know whether her daughter was in fact sober and receiving methadone in prison, or whether she was able to access drugs behind bars.

Grossnickle simply wants answers.

"They don't tell me anything," she said. "It doesn't matter if I've been estranged from her. Addiction did that ... the state does not help everybody."

Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.

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