Another Nevada prison inmate dies, fifth such death in two months

By Ana Ley

Friday, Nov. 8, 2013 | 8:21 p.m.

An inmate at High Desert State Prison was found dead inside his cell today, officials with the Nevada Department of Corrections said.

Truman Walker, 67, is the fifth Nevada prison inmate to die in the past two months. He had been at High Desert since August 2000, according to NDOC's website.

Walker had initially been put in prison in 1985 for sexual assault with substantial bodily injury in a case stemming from Elko County, NDOC said in a prepared statement. He was subsequently given life with parole and landed behind bars again in August 2000 after he pleaded guilty to open and gross lewdness.

NDOC officials said an autopsy will be performed by the Clark County Coroner's Office.

He was the fifth inmate to die this month under the care of NDOC — the four others were incarcerated at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, and NDOC officials have yet to disclose how any died.

Convicted cop killer Larry Peck was found unresponsive in his cell on Oct. 4 and taken to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead minutes later.

The next day, officials found the body of inmate Richard Ferst in his jail cell. Ferst had been jailed since July 2011 and was serving a maximum sentence of 20 years for burglary, grand larceny and possession of stolen property, according to the Department of Corrections.

On Oct. 21, Joseph Oxford-McArthur, 31, was found unconscious in his cell and was taken to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, where he died four days later. Oxford-McArthur had been behind prison bars since July, serving a one- to three-year sentence for domestic battery.

Also that day, an inmate who had been serving a burglary sentence from Clark County died in a medical facility at the prison. He has not yet been identified.