An inmate convicted of charges that include conspiracy to commit rape was pronounced dead Friday night about 15 minutes after being found unconscious in his cell, the state prisons agency said Monday.
Correctional officers reportedly noticed that Anthony Howard, 50, was unconscious in his one-man cell at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys about 10:17 p.m.
According to a news release from the Arkansas Department of Correction, officers and medical staff then began emergency medical treatment, but Howard did not regain consciousness and was pronounced dead at 10:35 p.m.
The agency said Howard was serving a 15-year term after being convicted in Sebastian County of criminal conspiracy to commit rape, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a certain person. Court records show he was originally sentenced in 2003.
The death has been referred to the Arkansas State Police for an investigation, according to the release. The Department of Correction will also conduct an internal investigation.
Brickeys, in Lee County, is about 110 miles east of Little Rock and 46 miles south and west of Memphis.
Howard's death added to the widespread troubles in Arkansas prisons this year.
Last week, three inmates were injured in a disturbance at a state prison, and state police are investigating more than two dozen cases of unrest, including one in which inmates who had taken keys and a Taser from guards held three correctional officers hostage for three hours.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.