SAN FRANCISCO — A former NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers who was sent to a California prison for domestic violence, vehicle theft and other charges, is a suspect in the death of his cellmate, officials said on Monday.
Lawrence Phillips, 39, was a suspect in the killing of 37-year-old Damion Soward, who was found unresponsive in the cell on Saturday and died at a local hospital the next day, Kern Valley State Prison spokesman Lieutenant Marshall Denning said in a statement.
Details on the incident were not provided immediately. Soward was serving a sentence of 82 years to life for first-degree murder, the statement said.