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Cellmate suspected of strangling man at San Diego jail

Eric Risberg/AP

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2016 file photo, a condemned inmate is led out of his east block cell on death row at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif. The California Labor and Workforce Development Agency confirmed Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, that California has sent about $400 million in unemployment benefits to state prison inmates. In all records show 31,000 inmates have applied for benefits and about 20,800 were paid $400 million. A group of local and federal prosecutors said 133 inmates on death row were named in claims. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

By: Associated Press

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Authorities say a 46-year-old man was found dead at San Diego Central Jail and a cellmate was arrested on suspicion of killing him.

Police say Richard Lee Salyers was unresponsive when deputies discovered him in his cell on the evening of August 22.

Medical staff were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined the preliminary cause of death was strangulation and the manner of death was homicide.

Thirty-two-year-old Steven Young was arrested on suspicion of Salyers’ murder. It wasn’t immediately known if Young has an attorney.

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