Utah prison inmate dies of apparent suicide

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A Utah State Prison inmate died Friday night in an apparent suicide.

Charles Mathews, 26, was found in his cell in a medium-security area of the prison. Mathews did not have a cellmate.

Paramedics responded to the prison about 10:21 p.m. after receiving a call about a patient who had a laceration, according to a dispatch log. Mathews was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly after 11 p.m., according to a news release from the Utah Department of Corrections.

The Unified Police Department is investigating the incident, with help from the department. A cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner's Office, though it appears Mathews died from self-inflicted wounds.

Mathews had been incarcerated since January 2008 on convictions of first-degree felony aggravated robbery and third-degree felony failure to stop at the command of police, according to Corrections spokesman Steve Gehrke.

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