Updated 4 p.m., July 5.
An inmate at Benner Township state prison died on Tuesday after being found unresponsive in his cell, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Evan Smith, 39, was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:23 a.m. Prison staff and medical personnel attempted life-saving measures until EMS arrived, acting superintendent Bradley Booher reported.
The Centre County Coroner’s Office determined Smith died from asphyxiation by hanging and ruled his manner of death as suicide.
State police are investigating the death, in accordance with state policy.
Smith was serving a 23-to-47-year sentence for a third-degree murder conviction in 2021 in Bucks County. He had been at Benner Township since March 30.
At least five inmates at state prisons in Centre County have died by suicide this year. The other four occurred at neighboring Rockview state prison between early March and late April.
