WASCO – Authorities said Thursday they are investigating the death of an inmate at Wasco State Prison as a homicide.

Prison officials say 33-year-old Ruben Landeros, Jr. was found unresponsive in the cell he shared with another inmate at about 10:25 am Wednesday. The pair were housed in the administrative segregation unit, which is reserved for some of the most dangerous inmates.

Thursday, the Kern County Coroner said an autopsy showed Landeros died of a “ligature strangulation,” generally strangulation with an object.

Landeros was serving an eight-month sentence for parole violation for a 2001 sexual battery conviction in Kern County. The facility about 30 miles north of Bakersfield holds about 6,000 inmates.