This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Investigators on Monday were awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine whether a Utah State Prison inmate died over the weekend from injuries in a fight or a separate medical problem.
Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal, whose agency is investigating the Saturday night death of 25-year-old Christopher Lee Lucas for the Utah Department of Corrections, could not provide a firm estimate for when the State Medical Examiner would complete the post mortem.
On Saturday, Corrections officers saw Lucas and another inmate fighting in a cell — a fracas that escalated from an argument "over noise," Hoyal said — and after they refused orders to stop, pepper spray was used on the two.
As the officers were escorting Lucas out of the cell, however, he collapsed. Lucas was rushed to the hospital but declared dead just before 7 p.m. Saturday.
Hoyal said Lucas did not having any apparent wounds, but per policy, UPD and the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office are reviewing the deadly incident.
Pending the results, four Corrections officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave.
Prison spokeswoman Brooke Adams said Lucas and the other inmate were not cellmates, but officials did not say which of the inmates' cells was the scene of the fight.
The surviving inmate has been transferred to maximum security, a standard procedure involving inmates involved in serious incidents such as this one.
Lucas was serving a 1-to-15-year sentence for forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and had been at the prison since June 19, 2009, according to the release. He was to appear before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Jan. 1.
During his time at the prison, Lucas had also been convicted of breaking a fire sprinkler head and assaulting another prisoner in 2011. In that assault, Lucas admitted that he entered the inmate's cell and struck him about 20 times, according to the charge. The inmate's eye socket was broken, and he needed stitches on his forehead, the charge adds.
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