Submitted photo.Police recovered around 400 pounds of Marijuana hidden in the U-Haul Hector Zermeno, of El Paso, drove. Zermeno died on Tuesday, following his suicide attempt in the back of a patrol car, police said.

The preliminary autopsy of Hector Zermeno, 48, found the cause of death to “be consistent with ligature strangulation and the manner of death to be suicide,” according to Mississippi Bureau of Investigations Communications Director Warren Strain.

Zermeno, of El Paso, Texas, strangled himself Friday night in the back of a Meridian Police Department patrol car after police found about 400 pounds of marijuana concealed in a box-spring mattress in the U-Haul he drove, police said. He died on Tuesday.

Thompson did not have a probable cause for why officers pulled over Zermeno.

On Saturday, Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose said a “K-9 alerted on the vehicle” after police made a stop.

Zermeno was left in a patrol car at the police station for about 20 minutes and police found him unresponsive as he had wrapped the seat belt around his neck after he managed to free one of his hands, Dubose said.

Strain said the MBI would investigate the in-custody death to ensure MPD followed procedure.