SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An inmate serving a life sentence for child molesting was killed Wednesday at a Northern California state prison, correction officials said.
Deandre Austin, 46, was found unresponsive in his cell at 6:30 p.m. by officers at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, KPIX reported.
According to officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Austin’s cellmate, 29-year-old Rodney Jordan, is considered the suspect in Austin’s death, the television station reported.
It is unclear how Austin died, KTLA reported.
Austin was serving a life term after his 2008 conviction in Contra Costa County. He was sentenced with the possibility of parole for the continuous sexual assault of his three elementary school-aged nieces when they shared homes in Richmond between 2002 and 2006, KPIX reported. He was convicted of rape, lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under age 14, continuous sex abuse of a child under 14, penetration with a foreign object with a victim under 14 and oral copulation
Jordan is serving prison time after his conviction in Los Angeles County on burglary and robbery charges, KTLA reported.
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/ZAYTSGF2CZF63ENV6SO45VPLWY.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/CEUTW7B2JNERRP5OOHPUXJNJSM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/RSCRRD3KOFC2NPQQDYGHMGHL5Y.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/DV3D5PBQIZFEPANBGDDAZHIA5I.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V5TWF6CJAZFXBLDTZXOE47OMN4.jpg)