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3rd Inmate Killed In Central California Prison In 3-Month Period

DELANO, Kern County (CBS/AP) -- Officials at a Central California state prison are investigating the third suspected inmate homicide there in three months.

Kern Valley State Prison spokesman Lt. Marshall Denning said Monday that 30-year-old Brandon Lowrey was found unresponsive in his cell Sunday night and later pronounced dead.

He was serving a 10-year sentence from Tulare County for robbery and transporting drugs.

Officials say his cellmate is considered a suspect.

The prison houses nearly 4,000 inmates in Delano, north of Bakersfield.

Two other inmates died in suspected homicides there in November and December.

Denning says there is no reason to believe the three deaths are related.

It is the same prison where officials say former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips killed himself this month while he was awaiting a murder trial.

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