Community mourns death of former Bartram Trail cheerleader

The Tallahassee Police Department said it continues to investigate the circumstances of a St. Johns County college student who passed away unexpectedly while at college.

Jessie Melcolm, 19, was found unresponsive in her apartment on Tuesday.

Action News Jax reached out to the District 2 Medical Examiner’s Office and was told a preliminary cause of death has not yet been determined. Foul play is not suspected.

Tallahassee Community College, where Melcolm was a freshman, sent a statement to the community that said “our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of a TCC student who passed away in Tallahassee on Tuesday.”

Melcolm was a former student at Bartram Trail High School and was a cheerleader.

RELATED: To help the family with care packages, click here.

Authorities said they are investigating her death, but there are no initial signs of an overdose or even meningitis which can kill someone within 24 hours of contracting the disease.

“Well if it’s not that, then an acute headache that leads to death within minutes or hours, you think about a hemorrhage or an aneurysm,” says Dr. Sunil Joshi Director of the Duval County Medical Foundation.

A family friend tells Action News Jax that Melcolm called her mother about a headache Monday night.

When her mother didn’t hear from her on Tuesday morning, she reached out to a friend of Jessie’s to check on her. She was found unresponsive and later died.

Brandt Curvel is a former neighbor who lived down the street from Melcolm and remembered a young vibrant woman.

“I always saw her and her cheerleading friends driving back and forth,” says Curvel.

Melcolm is also being remembered by the Creeks Baseball Club, where her father and brother are coaches.

It said in part on social media “CBC is heartbroken to learn of the passing of Jessie Melcolm. The Melcolm family is such a large part of the CBC Family.”

Cox Media Group