A convicted serial killer is suspected of murdering his new inmate in a California prison.
Ramon Escobar, 51, is serving life without parole for killing seven people, including his aunt and uncle, and injuring seven others in a series of attacks in 2018.
He shared a cell at North Kern State Prison in Delano with Juan Villanueva, 53, a fellow inmate convicted of sexually assaulting a child under 14.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Villanueva was found unresponsive shortly before 9 a.m. Friday and despite efforts to save her was pronounced dead a short time later.
Escobar is suspected of murdering Villanueva and has been placed in restricted housing pending the investigation, the agency added.
The Kern County Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death, authorities said. Other details were not immediately available.
Escobar was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty last year to killing five men and injuring seven others.
He also pleaded guilty to murdering his aunt and uncle in Houston, Texas, in 2018.
Prosecutors said Escobar fled Texas after killing his relatives and was homeless when he began attacking people in Los Angeles and Santa Monica over the course of about two weeks.
Escobar beat the victims with bolt cutters or a baseball bat as they slept in the streets or on the beach. All but one were homeless.
He arrived at the prison last December. Villanueva arrived on Feb. 2, officials said.
Both men were housed at the Reception Center, which processes inmates received from counties throughout California.
Inmates can be held there for up to 90 days while determining where they should be placed within the state prison system.
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