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Penn law student's death ruled accidental overdose

Jonathan Lumpkin, 25, a first-year law student, was found dead Jan. 16 in his residence at Sansom Place East, a university-owned high rise.

The death of a law student at the University of Pennsylvania has been ruled an accidental overdose.
The death of a law student at the University of Pennsylvania has been ruled an accidental overdose.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / File Photo

A University of Pennsylvania law school student's on-campus death last week has been ruled an accidental overdose.

Jonathan Lumpkin, 25, a first-year law student who was returning from a leave of absence, was found dead Jan. 16 in his residence at Sansom Place East, a university high-rise.

A spokesman for the Medical Examiner's Office said the death was caused by a drug overdose and the manner of death was accidental. The drug or drugs involved in the death were not disclosed.

Lumpkin, of New Orleans, had started his studies in 2015, Penn officials have said. He had received a B.A. in history, political science, and philosophy from the University of New Orleans and graduated summa cum laude.

An obituary published by his family in the New Orleans Advocate said Lumpkin died of a drug overdose.

"Jonathan had a passion for social justice, books, and baseball," the obituary said.

A memorial service is set for Friday at Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans.

Lumpkin was the third Penn student to die in less than three weeks.

Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old sophomore, was found buried in a shallow grave near his Southern California home on Jan. 9, a week after he was reported missing. A former high school classmate, Samuel Woodward,  has been charged with murder.

Freshman William Steinberg died last Dec. 31 in a plane crash in Costa Rica that also claimed the lives of his parents and two brothers.