A man charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend in front of their two children killed himself in his jail cell, a state prison official said Wednesday.

Alfredo Ferrer, 43, apparently hanged himself with a bedsheet, Correction Department spokesman Brian Garnett said.

Asked if guards had performed the required twice-hourly tour of each cell block, he said: "It's under investigation and that will all be determined."

Ferrer's death comes a month after a judge ruled there was enough evidence to put him on trial. He was scheduled for a court appearance Friday.

Ferrer was charged in the shooting of 27-year-old Amanda Realie in their apartment on April 14. Realie died three days later, and doctors were not able to save the unborn child.

Coventry officers arrested Ferrer the day of the shooting after a standoff outside the tavern where he worked as a dishwasher.

Police said they found him splattered with blood, holding a gun and his 2-year-old son and threatening to kill himself. Neighbors said his 5-year-old son was by his side.

Officers subdued Ferrer with a stun gun and the children were unharmed. Tavern employees had led their customers into the basement during the standoff.

Investigators said Ferrer later told them that he accidentally shot Realie as they fought over her heroin use and his history as a sex offender. Ferrer's lawyer has suggested that his client's confession was coerced.

Court officials said Ferrer was convicted in the 1980s of sexually assaulting a minor, then escaped from prison in 1991 and was arrested in 2002 in New York.

(This version CORRECTS year of New York arrest.)