PORT HADLOCK — A 17-year-old boy died from a suspected asthma attack as he slept, Jefferson County Undersheriff Tim Perry said Monday.
The teen lived with his grandmother in Quilcene but was visiting his mother and her boyfriend at their state Highway 20 home near Four Corners Road on Friday night, Perry said.
He went to sleep on the living room couch and was discovered dead just before 7 a.m. Saturday morning by his mother, Perry said.
“During the night, he had an asthma attack and died,”‘ Perry said.
An autopsy was scheduled, but results were released Monday.
Perry said the boy had a history of asthma and was prone to attacks.
At the scene Saturday, Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies gathered evidence, but the death was not thought to have been caused by foul play, Perry said.
“We are not handling this as a homicide,” said Perry.
He said the boy’s asthma could have been set off by lingering secondhand cigarette smoke.