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Coroner: Phillips' death declared a suicide

Posted at 3:45 PM, Jan 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-15 19:02:17-05

Kern County Coroner officials said on Friday that the Lawrence Phillips' cause of death was suicide.

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Phillips, a former NFL player was found dead at the Kern Valley State Prison on Wednesday.

23ABC News was in the courtroom Jan. 12, 2016 as Phillips was facing murder charges for the death of his cellmate Damion Soward. 23ABC News crews said that Phillips was acting odd and strange during the hearing.

Phillips had been in an Administrative Segregation Unit on single-cell status since April 11, 2013, after he was suspected of killing his cellmate, 37-year-old Damion Soward. Phillips was currently in the early stages of the trial in Kern County for the homicide.