A Chesapeake man awaiting sentencing in Western Tidewater Regional Jail was discovered dead in his cell early Monday.

William Charles James, 34, was unresponsive to emergency medical attention given at the jail, said Lt. Debbie George, spokeswoman for the Suffolk Police Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Refusing to elaborate on a suspected cause of death, George said the body had been sent to Norfolk Crime Lab for an autopsy.

&uot;But we don’t suspect foul play,&uot; she added.

James had been held in Western Tidewater since January when he pleaded guilty to charges of malicious wounding, abduction, statutory burglary and attempted robbery of a woman in the 500 block of Princeton Avenue last summer.

allison.williams@suffolknewsherald.com