WARWICK — Pamela Worden, the woman accused of stealing a baby parrot in May and cutting off its foot to remove an identification band, was found dead Dec. 23 at her home. She was 57.

Worden, of 911 Toll Gate Rd., was scheduled to be in Kent County District Court yesterday to set a date for her trial. She had been charged with a felony count of possession of stolen goods and a misdemeanor count of cruelty to an animal.

Worden went to her room to lie down around 10 a.m. on Dec. 22 and never woke up. Her roommate, Robert Patton, 80, found her the next morning, lying in her bed, he told police.

The state medical examiner listed her cause of death as acute intoxication from the effects of opiates and depressants. According to the police, Worden was taking an opiate — Avinza, a pain medication that releases continuous doses of morphine — and the depressants Flurazapam and Alprazolam. It did not appear to the police that Worden overused the drugs the day she died, police said.

David A. Holden, director of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, heard about Worden’s death yesterday when he went to observe the court proceedings.

“We were prepared to assist in any way in the trial,” Holden said. “I’m sorry that the defendant died and for her family.” The charges will be dismissed once a death certificate is issued.

“This has been an unusual case all along,” said Beryl Kenyon, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office. “But usually we have some sort of resolution.”

In May, the police said Worden walked into the PETCO store on Bald Hill Road and asked about buying a parrot. She held the bird and told employees about a similar bird she bought at another store. Worden continued shopping, according to the police, and the clerk noticed the bird was missing minutes later. Employees traced the purchase Worden made at the other store and gave her contact information to police.

Officers found two birds when they entered Worden’s apartment. One was bleeding and missing a foot; the amputated limb, the bird’s identification band and a pair of scissors sat on a counter nearby.

The bird was taken to an avian specialist in East Greenwich and has since been adopted into a good home, said Scott W. Brady, manager at PETCO.

After surgery, the bird was returned to the pet store for observation. More than 1,000 people expressed interest in adopting it, Brady said. The bird was placed in a home three weeks after the operation. The store gave the new owners a cage, toys and a year’s supply of bird feed.

“We just did a few interviews to see who had birds before and took the best person from that,” Brady said.

“It worked out well.”

tbuford@projo.com