By Jewel B.
January 13, 2015, New York City Former NFL player Lawrence Phillips was found dead in his cell at Keron Valley State Prison in Delano, California. A little after midnight, the athlete was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:17 AM, according to USA Today. Investigators are suspecting the death to be a suicide. Phillips, 40, was recently charged with the murder of his former cellmate, Damion Soward. The incident, which occurred this past April, saw Soward become unresponsive after being strangled, with blood found on many of Phillip’s items.
The famed athlete had already been facing jail time for domestic abuse, according to TMZ. In a letter penned to his mother this past March, Phillips vented about his frustrations with prison, which included a remark about said frustrations potentially leading him to kill himself or someone else.
Phillips was a two-time champion at the University of Nebraska.