LEWISTON — A man found dead Saturday morning in the area of Walnut and Blake streets was identified Tuesday as Ahmed Nur, 44, of Lewiston.

Lindsey Chasteen, a spokeswoman for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, wrote in an email that a limited autopsy was performed and the next of kin notified, but the cause of death is pending further studies.

Nur was found unresponsive by two friends sometime before 8:40 a.m., according to a Lewiston Police news release. When first responders arrived, Nur was deceased and his body was transported to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for an autopsy, the release said.

One of Nur’s friends, who asked not to be named, said she and others were devastated by his death. She said Nur and her boyfriend were like brothers.

“We are homeless together, we took care of each other,” she said. “I saw him the night before on the bench of Sophia’s House and I stopped and talked to him. There is a hallway me, him and my boyfriend would sleep in when there was nowhere to go. He was supposed to go there but he never made it.”

The friend said she recently set him up with a case manager who was helping him find housing.

“He was trying to get better,” the friend said. “I’m so sad about this.”

Sophia’s House at 143 Blake St. is a residential home that supports and empowers women survivors of addiction, trafficking and incarceration through holistic healing in a shared community. It was established in 2020 by The Center for Wisdom’s Women at 97 Blake St. as a weekday drop-in in center that offers safe, healing opportunities for women in the community.