State prison officials Monday announced the death of an inmate at the Lancaster lockup and said the man’s cellmate is suspected of killing him.
Inmate Porfirio Castro, 44, was found unresponsive in his cell at 8:44 a.m. Sunday at the California State Prison-Lancaster, in the Antelope Valley desert about 50 miles north of Los Angeles.
Guards immediately began lifesaving measures, but Castro was pronounced dead at 9:12 a.m., according to prison officials, who said the cause of death was pending an autopsy.
Castro had been serving a six-year sentence for second-degree robbery.
Castro’s cellmate, Robert Vasquez, 47, has been isolated from the rest of the prison population pending the outcome of an investigation by prison and Los Angeles County sheriff’s personnel, authorities said.
Castro, who has been in the state prison system since December 1989, was convicted in San Diego County of first-degree burglary.
The Lancaster prison opened in 1993 and houses about 3,500 prisoners, ranging from minimum- to high-security custody inmates.
— Wire reports