CORCORAN - Authorities are investigating the death of an inmate at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. Rufus Hodges, 51, was declared dead by medical staff on Monday after he was found unresponsive. Hodges was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for two murder convictions in Riverside County. The case is being investigated as a possible homicide, prison officials said. His cellmate, Christopher Shirley, was placed in a holding cell as a suspect. The no-parole prison term was ordered in 2013 for Hodges for the murders of a Moreno Valley mother and her 15-year-old son. Hodges pleaded guilty rather than stand trial. Slain at their home were Chelsea Crisp and her son, Shamez. Authorities said that Hodges was known to the victims. He was described as a felon with a drug record.
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