Authorities say an Arizona prison inmate has died and it's being investigated as an apparent homicide.

State Department of Corrections officials say 40-year-old inmate Shannon Palmer was found unresponsive in his cell Friday afternoon at the Buckley Unit of the state prison-Lewis in Buckeye. He was later pronounced dead by the emergency medical responders.

DOC officials say Palmer was housed in a two-man cell with another inmate who was not identified. They say the investigation is being conducted by the department's Criminal Investigations Unit.

Palmer entered the state prison system for the fourth time in September 2009 after a conviction for criminal damage out of Maricopa County. He was serving a three-year sentence.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/10/20100910arizona-inmate-dead-homicide.html#ixzz0zBLGlwL8