BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say a man sharing a prison cell with former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips died by strangulation.
The Kern County Coroner’s Office on Thursday released the autopsy results saying that 37-year-old Damion Soward died from neck-compression asphyxia, ruling it a homicide. Soward’s lifeless body was found Saturday at Kern Valley State Prison.
Prison officials say they suspect 39-year-old Phillips, once one of the nation’s top college football players at Nebraska. He played for the St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.
Phillips is serving a sentence of more than 31 years.
He was convicted of twice choking his girlfriend in 2005 in San Diego and of driving his car into three teens after a pickup football game in Los Angeles.
It wasn’t clear if Phillips has an attorney.
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