Essex County prosecutors say a county jail inmate has been charged with murder in the beating death of his cellmate.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rahdi Richardson is accused of killing 27-year-old Desmond Sanders, who was found unresponsive inside his cell around 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
Sanders was pronounced dead in his cell about an hour later, and an autopsy determined that he died from blunt-force trauma and asphyxiation.
Authorities have said Richardson and Sanders, both Newark residents, had been jailed since June, when they were arrested in connection with a shooting in Newark. Both were charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses.
Richardson's bail was set at $850,000 on the murder charge, which was announced Wednesday night.
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