[bloodrayne]

Calif. authorities launch probe into prison death

LOS ANGELES, Feb 5 - The discovery of an inmate who may have bled to death at Corcoran state prison in central California while guards watched Sunday's Super Bowl has prompted an inquiry by the local district attorney's office, officials said on Thursday.

Kings County chief deputy prosecutor Patrick Hart said his office was investigating the death of Ronald Herrera, whose body was found in his cell early Monday morning.

A prison spokeswoman said staff were co-operating fully with the probe into the death of Herrera, who was a 60-year-old dialysis patient and sex offender.

Authorities declined to detail how Herrera died but the Los Angeles Times reported that his cell was soaked with blood. The newspaper quoted unidentified prison officials as saying he had been heard howling and kicking at his cell door several times on Sunday afternoon during the Super Bowl game.

The Los Angeles Times said Herrera was mentally ill and that his body was found on Monday with the medical shunt that he needed for dialysis pulled out of his arm.

Prison officials said a coroner's autopsy has not yet been completed and the cause of death was unknown. "This is an ongoing investigation. We will be cooperating fully with the District Attorney's office," Corcoran prison spokeswoman Sabrina Johnson said.