Corcoran prison officials investigate inmate death as possible homicide

An inmate at California State Prison, Corcoran may have been killed by his cellmate, officials said Monday.

Staff members found Chad Ku, 43, unconscious in his prison cell at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, officials said. After lifesaving measures were attempted, Ku was pronounced dead nearly an hour later at the prison’s medical facility, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release.

Ku’s cellmate, 36-year-old Jason Kelly, was identified as a suspect. Kelly, who is serving a sentence of 70 years to life for first-degree murder, is being held in the prison’s Administrative Segregation Unit during the investigation.

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Ku was serving time for robbery with a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, marijuana possession, assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon or force likely to cause great bodily injury,

The Corcoran facility is an all-male state prison in Kings County. It houses nearly 3,400 minimum- through high-security inmates and employs approximately 2,500 people.

Between 2001 and 2013, there were 182 reported homicides in California state prisons, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

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