SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Two inmates serving life sentences for San Diego County murders were killed behind bars this week on the same day at the same prison, according to state corrections officials.
Edward Bergman, 53, and Mario Rushing, 46, died Monday in separate, suspected homicides at California State Prison, Sacramento, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
On Sunday, Bergman was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead just after midnight Monday. His official cause of death was not released, but another inmate, 27-year-old Taylor Cervantes was identified as the suspect in Bergman's killing and prison officials said an "inmate-manufactured weapon was recovered at the scene."
According to CDCR, Bergman was sentenced in 1997 to life without the possibility of parole for a San Diego County first-degree murder conviction. He was also previously sentenced two other times to prison for San Diego County burglaries.
At about 6 p.m. Monday, state prison officials say Rushing was seen choking another inmate. CDCR says Rushing ignored commands to stop and "chemical agents and less-lethal measures" were deployed, to no effect.
When the other inmate appeared to lose consciousness, an officer fired on Rushing, according to CDCR. Rushing was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead about an hour later.
Rushing was sentenced in 1996 to a life sentence for first-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement of terminate pregnancy and arson of structure or forest fire.
Earlier this year, another inmate serving a life sentence for a San Diego County murder was killed at Pelican Bay State Prison.
Joseph Hill, 53, was serving a nearly 250 year-to-life sentence for fatally shooting a man in Linda Vista in 2013. Prison officials said two inmates attacked him in a prison yard on March 23, and he died at a hospital a few hours later.
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