San Diego

Authorities on Tuesday released the name of a handicapped man discovered dead from a suspected drug overdose inside his mother’s University City apartment, police said.

Mark Dowell, 35, was found dead Monday on the living room floor of an apartment in the 4600 Block of Governor Drive, said Lt. John Welter of the San Diego Police Department. Dowell was a resident of a home for retarded citizens and was apparently visiting his mother, Josephine Dowell, 67, who was found lying unconscious on the floor next to her son.

Josephine Dowell was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in serious condition Tuesday, Welter said.

Homicide detectives are trying to determine whether Mark Dowell took his own life or if he was assisted by his mother, who apparently owns an art store, Welter said. A note was found in the apartment.

Welter said that, if police can show that Mark Dowell’s death was not a suicide, the case will be presented to the district attorney’s office.