Convicted child rapist dies in prison

A man serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole died in his cell Wednesday evening and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has stated they are treating the death as a homicide with the primary suspect being the man's cell mate.

At 5:40 pm officers responded to a call of a "man down" and found 46-year-old Deandre Austin unresponsive.  Officers stated that they immediately called 911 and began life saving procedures.  He could not be resuscitated however, and a Mule Creek State Prison doctor pronounced him deceased at 6:30 pm.

His cellmate, 29-year-old Rodney Jordan was moved into segregated housing pending an investigation into the death.

Austin arrived at the Mule Creek State Prison on Oct. 2, 2008 after being convicted in Contra Costa County for a number of sexual offenses including rape, lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under age 14, continuous sex abuse of a child under 14, penetration with a foreign object with a victim under 14, oral copulation and sodomy.

Jordan arrived at the prison initially on Aug. 14, 2017 after being convicted of first degree burglary in Los Angeles County and sentenced to a term of two years.  He was paroled July 31, 2018 and returned on Sept. 4, 2018 after once again being sentenced in Los Angeles County for burglary.  This time he was sentenced to a term of five years for second degree burglary.

Neither the cause nor the manner of death have been released and the case is still under investigation.