An inmate serving a sentence for third-degree murder died after being found unresponsive in his cell on Sunday at the State Correctional Institute at Benner Township, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Corrections officers found 32-year-old Yessy Rivera at about 9:25 a.m. and began providing emergency assistance until medical personnel arrived, according to a new release. Rivera was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
State police are investigating, per DOC policy, and the Centre County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death.
Rivera was serving a 20-40 year sentence for a conviction in Carbon County. He had been at SCI-Benner Township since June.
This is the fourth reported inmate death this year at the Benner Township state prison. Two were determined to the result of suicide. In March, Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers determined that 23-year-old inmate Derric Harsh died by manual strangulation and ruled the manner of death homicide. No charges have yet been filed in that case.
Two inmates at SCI-Rockview also died by suicide earlier this year.
