JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A 43-year-old man who is already serving a life sentence for murder has been arrested in the death of a cellmate at a Florida jail.
The Florida Times-Union reports Paul Dixon was re-booked on a new murder charge following the fatal beating on Tuesday.
Authorities say Dixon had been brought to the Duval County Jail from another facility for court proceedings in a new sentencing hearing.
He’s serving 25 years for a 1993 murder that occurred when he was 17.
New state laws require re-sentencing for juveniles given life terms.
The beating happened in a cell where inmates are held while awaiting transport to prison or while they’re back for hearings.
Local news reports say Dixon drowned Ramirez in the jail’s cell toilet.
Ramirez’s official cause of death has yet to be determined by a medical examiner.
It’s likely that due to the violent nature of both men’s crimes, they would have been housed in the upper levels of the facility.
Officials have not released the dead man’s name, but First Coast News found jail records show that a man named David Oseas Ramirez, 56, was released Tuesday with the “release reason” of “deceased.”
Ramirez was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old back in 2012 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Dixon declined to speak to detectives and asked for a lawyer.
