Prisoner killed in Northeast Philly facility, police say

Police are investigating after an inmate at Northeast Philly's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility was killed by a cellmate early Thursday.

According to police, the incident happened at about 3:34 a.m. in the prison facility on the 8100 block of State Road. Correctional staff members were in the housing unit at the time of the attack. They responded to the 44-year-old victim's cell and notified medics who administered CPR on the man, according to officials. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at 4:35 a.m.

Officials said the victim was attacked by his cellmate. Philadelphia police said the 30-year-old suspect is in custody but charges have not yet been filed.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, according to law enforcement officials.

“The Department of Prisons strives to provide a safe, lawful and secure correctional environment, and we are working with the Philadelphia Police Department to investigate this incident,” said Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney. 

Other violent incidents have occurred at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility within the past year.

A prisoner was killed during an altercation with another inmate back in March, according to officials.

A corrections officer was also hospitalized after being assaulted in July, investigators said.

In early November, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner detailed multiple safety issues at the nearby Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC) where two inmates escaped in May. Those issues included staffing, faulty cameras and motion sensor poles that were turned off.

Thursday afternoon, only hours after the deadly attack at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, an inmate who was on work detail near PICC escaped, officials said.