Man at Lansing prison in Kansas dies after being charged in cellmate’s homicide
A prisoner who died Tuesday at Lansing Correctional Facility reportedly killed himself after being charged with murdering his cellmate, Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said.
Ricardo Carlos Ramirez, 43, was found unresponsive in his cell early Tuesday morning, Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman David Thompson said in a news release. Staff started life-saving measures and called EMS. Ramirez was pronounced dead by medical staff.
The cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy, but officials said it was not related to COVID-19. Thompson said Ramirez died by suicide.
Several deaths have been reported at Lansing in recent months, including the Aug. 7 homicide of Fred Eugene Patterson III, 56.
Thompson said Ramirez and Patterson shared a cell. Prosecutors alleged that Ramirez wanted to borrow a pen and Patterson did not give him one which “set him off,” Thompson said in a news release. Patterson was beaten to death and Ramirez was charged with first-degree murder.
Ramirez was in custody for a parole violation and had previously been convicted of aggravated sex battery and three counts of battery on a city or county employee in Johnson County.
His death is under investigation by KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which is standard protocol.
Other recent deaths at Lansing include a 43-year-old man who died July 11 and a 28-year-old prisoner who died in April.
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 1:49 PM.
