ST. LOUIS (AP) — The family of a St. Louis jail inmate who died in custody is disputing the police version of what happened.

Police say 27-year-old Nicholas Gilbert died Tuesday evening after a struggle with officers who tried to prevent him from killing himself in a holdover cell.

Police Chief Sam Dotson says six to eight officers responded after a worker saw Gilbert trying to use his sweatpants as a noose.

Gilbert hit his head on a concrete bench during the struggle. Officers noticed he was having trouble breathing and his pulse had stopped. Gilbert was pronounced dead at a hospital.

His mother, Jody Lombardo, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the family believes Gilbert had been beaten. She says he was not suicidal.

Dotson says the investigation is ongoing.