SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A fight between two inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa led to one of the men's deaths and is being investigated as a homicide, state prison officials said Thursday.
The fatal altercation happened around 6:15 a.m. Saturday between inmates Jerry Elliott, 43, and Aikane Matias, 32, inside their cell, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Elliott was found unresponsive and was taken to a hospital, where he died Thursday morning, CDCR said. Prison officials did not elaborate on a cause of death, but said no weapon was used in the altercation.
Matias has been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation into the death, according to CDCR.
He was sentenced in Fresno County to eight years in state prison for first-degree burglary.
Elliott was sentenced in Riverside County to 34 years in prison for a variety of crimes, including evading a peace officer causing death and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
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