Former Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips was found dead in his cell at Kern Valley State Prison in California in a suspected suicide, according to a release from the prison:
Former Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips found dead in prison, suicide suspected
Phillips was 40 years old and facing murder charges.
Mike Powell/Getty Images
DELANO - Officials at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) are investigating the death of inmate Lawrence Phillips as a suspected suicide.
The incident occurred at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, when staff conducting security checks found Phillips, 40, unresponsive in his cell. He was transported to an outside hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 1:27 a.m. Next-of-kin has been notified.
Phillips was facing charges of murdering his former cell mate, which carried the possibility of the death penalty. He was already serving a 31-year sentence for driving his car into three teenagers, and for domestic violence charges that arose in 2005.
Phillips was a star player for Nebraska’s National Championship teams in the mid-90s. He rushed for 1,722 yards in 1994. The next year, he was a Heisman Trophy favorite, but after two games, he was dismissed from the team for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend, a Nebraska basketball player.
However, coach Tom Osborne did let him back on the team for the bowl game. That decision was met with criticism, but Osborne claimed that it would be better for Phillips to be in a structured environment.
Osborne said he was surprised by Wednesday’s news.
All of his correspondence with me in spite of circumstances have been fairly upbeat ... didn’t see that coming. He was very loyal to his friends and yet he had some anger issues and couldn’t overcome the demons in his life. Things weren’t going in a good direction for him. All I can say is I feel very bad ... I guess we feel like we did what we could for him.
Phillips wrote to coaches and discussed the issues and experiences he had behind bars.
Phillips left college early for the NFL Draft, where he was drafted No. 6 overall in 1996 by the St. Louis Rams. However, he spent time in jail and was released before going to the Miami Dolphins. While with the Dolphins, he pleaded no contest to hitting a woman at a nightclub and was released.
He then moved on to NFL Europe, eventually coming back to the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, who eventually released him for “conduct detrimental to the team.” He played in the CFL and AFL but never returned to the NFL.
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