Police are not classifying the death as a homicide.

SOUTH BERWICK (AP) – An investigation into a domestic assault has turned into something more with the victim’s death at a hospital in New Hampshire.

Kathleen Lyons, 42, died Thursday night at Wentworth-Douglas Hospital in Dover, N.H., and an autopsy will be conducted by the New Hampshire medical examiner’s office, officials said Friday.

Her accused attacker, Jeff Merrifield, 41, has been held in the York County Jail since his arrest. At his initial court appearance Friday in Biddeford, a domestic assault charge was dismissed, but he is still charged with terrorizing.

Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said police are not classifying the death as a homicide, but rather a “death under investigation.” He said the death won’t be classified until the medical examiner’s findings are completed.

He said Merrifield was also on probation for being a habitual motor vehicle offender.

The episode unfolded Wednesday night when police officers responding to reports of an assault found Lyons injured.

Merrifield was located in a nearby home and was flushed out with tear gas by the state police tactical squad.