Mississippi Lawmaker Found Dead With A Gunshot Wound To The Head

Associated PressJessica Ushaw in 2008Mississippi state lawmaker Jessica Upshaw was found dead in a residence on Sunday with a bullet wound to her head, the Clarion Ledger reports, citing unnamed sources at the state capitol.

Upshaw, a 53-year-old Republican, was found in the home of former Mississippi State Rep. Clint Rotenberry, Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis told the Clarion Ledger.

Lewis told the Clarion Ledger Sunday afternoon that the case had been turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and that he didn't know whether her death was a suicide.

Later Sunday evening, Lewis told the Clarion Ledger that the bullet wound "appeared to be self-inflicted."

Upshaw, who was single, had been a Mississippi state representative since 2004. A lawyer by trade, she chaired the legislature's Natural Resources Committee.

Rotenberry was elected to the house in 1994 and lost a Republican runoff in 2007, according to the Clarion Ledger.

It's not clear why Upshaw was at Rotenberry's house. He hasn't been arrested, CBS News reported Sunday night.