Deandre Austin was 46 when officers at Mule Creek State Prison, in Amador County, California, responded to a report of a “man down” one Wednesday afternoon.
They found him unconscious in his cell. Despite resuscitation efforts by emergency personnel, he was pronounced dead. His cellmate, Rodney Jordan, was moved to an isolation area as the homicide investigation continues.
Austin had been sentenced in 2008 to life in prison, with the possibility of parole, for repeatedly abusing his three nieces, all of elementary school age, while they shared a home in Richmond between 2002 and 2006. The charges included rape, lewd acts with a minor under 14, and continuous sexual abuse of a minor under 14.
Jordan, meanwhile, was serving a sentence for robbery. He had initially received two years for burglary in Los Angeles, was released on parole in July 2018, and two months later returned to prison with a new five-year sentence for second-degree robbery.
