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UTAH STATE PRISON — Both Utah State prisons, in Draper and Gunnison, remained on lockdown Monday, five days after an inmate was allegedly killed by his cellmate.
Alfonso Lopez, 27, was killed April 27 after getting into a fight with his cellmate, Jacob Ecker, 23. The cause of death had not been released as of Monday.
The killing marked the third violent incident at the prison in three weeks.
- On April 19, a 25-year-old inmate was stabbed by his cellmate in the area of the prison that typically houses gang members. That inmate survived.
- On April 10, a 29-year-old man was stabbed two to three times in the torso with an unknown weapon in a commons area of the prison.
Department of Corrections spokesman Steve Gehrke said there was no evidence Monday that any of the incidents are related. But he said the department's investigations bureau wanted to make sure it fully understood what was going on before re-opening the prisons.
"We want to be as confident as we can that the institution is secure for inmates, staff, volunteers and visitors before we return to normal operations," he said.
It was difficult to say when the lockdowns would be lifted, Gehrke said. The situation would be evaluated on a daily basis, so the lockdown could end Tuesday or a week from Tuesday, he said.
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