Inmate Dies After Being Found Unresponsive at Benner Township State Prison

Updated 2:31 p.m. Feb. 1.

A 36-year-old inmate died after being found unresponsive in his cell at Benner Township state prison, the Department of Corrections reported on Friday.

Investigators found evidence indicating that Ryan J. Paige, of Pike County, died by suicide, state police at Rockview wrote in an update on Sunday.

Paige was found unresponsive on Thursday afternoon and personnel performed life-saving measures until emergency medical services arrived, according to Superintendent Bradley M. Booher. Paige was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he died on Friday.

The case remains open pending further investigation, police wrote.

Paige was serving a sentence of 28 to 62 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2022 of third-degree murder, attempted murder and reckless endangerment. According to contemporaneous news reports, Paige fired multiple rifle shots into the Pike County home of his father, Ronald Paige, amid a family dispute in April 2020. with one of the shots killing the elder Paige. Ronald Paige’s fiancee and her two children were also in the home at the time of the shooting.

Ryan Paige had been incarcerated at Benner Township state prison since October 2024.