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A prison inmate suspected of beating another inmate to death was already serving time for murder.
Julio Guerrero, 23, was allegedly killed by Mario Antoine Lucero, 33, the Unified Police Department said Wednesday. Lucero was serving 15 years to life for beating a man to death in St. George in 2013.
Utah State Prison officials were called to a cell in the Uinta facility on a report of a fight inside the cell involving the two cell mates at 2:44 p.m. on Tuesday. Guerrero was dead and Lucero had minor injuries.
Lucero was treated in the prison infirmary for his injuries, and remained at the prison.
The Unified Police Department was called to investigate the case, which is standard protocol when there is a death at the prison.
It was initially believed that Guerrero had been stabbed due to the blood at the scene and because a metal-edged weapon was found in the cell.
Following an autopsy, however, it was found that Guerrero died as a result of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma.
The case is active and detectives are still trying to determine a motive for the crime, they said Wednesday.
Detectives plan to screen homicide charges against Lucero with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office
The prison death comes almost two years from the date that Lucero beat another man to death.
On Feb. 16, 2013, Jeramy Shawn Olsen died after he allegedly got into an altercation with Lucero in St. George. Olsen was the common-law husband of Lucero's sister, and Lucero is accused of punching the man repeatedly in the head, causing fatal injuries, the St. George Spectrum reported at the time.
Lucero fled the scene and was arrested several days later in California. He pleaded guilty last year in 5th District Court to one count of first-degree felony murder.
Lucero's alleged prison victim, Guerrero, was back in custody after allegedly violating his parole, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams. Guerrero pleaded guilty to robbery in 2010, and had been granted parole last year. He was returned to prison on Jan. 29 for the alleged parole violation, Adams said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, detectives had been unable to notify any next of kin for Guerrero.
Anyone with information regarding Guerrero's family is asked to call the UPD at 385-468-9820. He lived in Salt Lake City, according to court documents.
Meanwhile, a prison lockdown was partially lifted on Wednesday.
Adams said the prison system's Promontory, Lone Peak, Timpanogos and Olympus facilities had resumed normal operations. However, inmates at the Oquirrh, Uinta and Wasatch units remained on lockdown.
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