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Prisoner Found Hanging in Hudson Jail Identified as Newark Woman

Kearny

A Newark woman being held in the Hudson County jail is dead after being found unresponsive in her cell Wednesday morning authorities said.

Police identified the woman as Francheska Depena, 24, was found hanging in her cell from what a ppeared to be bed sheet just after 10 a.m. yesterday, according to reports.

The report said Depena has been incarcerated in Hudson County jail in Kearny since June 2012 on kidnapping charges in which she pled guilty authorities said.

According to reports, jail officers performed life saving techniques on Depena yesterday Wednesday morning before EMTs responded.

Authorities allege Depena was part of a plot to kidnap and kill Regina Baker, a 27-year-old Jersey City mother of five.

Baker was last seen being abducted at gunpoint by up to six people and stuffed into the trunk of a car on Bidwell Avenue in Jesey City on June 16, 2012, authorities said then. Three days later, Baker's bullet-ridden body was found in a vacant house in Newark.

Four people were charged with planning to kill Baker. Depena was charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping along with a sixth person.

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