Death Of Southern California Inmate Considered Homicide

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) — An inmate at a Southern California state prison has been stabbed to death and another inmate is being held as a suspect, authorities said Friday.

Employees on Tuesday spotted 55-year-old Timothy Johnson applying pressure to his bleeding neck at California State Prison in Los Angeles County.

He died hours later at a hospital.

Johnson was serving a life sentence for repeated burglaries in San Bernardino County.

Investigators named inmate Noel Mayorga, 44, as a suspect in the killing.

Mayorga is serving a nearly 33-year sentence. He was convicted in Riverside County of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI resulting in the death of more than one victim.

The prison in Lancaster, north of Los Angeles, houses about 3,200 inmates.