Inmate found dead in CMCF cell

RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) - An inmate in Rankin County was found dead in his cell at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility Saturday evening.

This according to Rankin County Coroner David Ruth.

In 2018, the inmate, Alex Deaton, pleaded guilty to murder, drive-by shooting, and motor vehicle theft in Rankin County Court.

In March 2017, Deaton was a fugitive wanted in connection with two murders and a string of shootings in Mississippi, a shooting, carjacking, and kidnapping in New Mexico, and a carjacking and shooting in Kansas.

One of those murder victims was his girlfriend, Heather Robinson, while the other was the shooting death of 69-year-old Brenda Pinter, who was found dead in a rural Neshoba County church.

[READ: Alex Deaton pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to life in prison]

Deaton was sentenced to life in prison.

An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death.

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