Sacramento, CA  (KTRS)   A former Rams running back is believed to have taken his own life.

Authorities say Lawrence Phillips was found unresponsive in his California prison cell early Wednesday morning. Officials say guards at Kern Valley State Prison found Phillips unresponsive in his cell shortly after midnight Wednesday. He was pronounced dead about 1:30 a.m.  Officials say suicide is the suspected cause of death.

He had been in segregation since April 2015 after he was suspected of killing his cellmate. A Kern County judge had ruled Tuesday that there was enough evidence to try Phillips in the death of 37-year-old Damion Soward.

He was convicted of choking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens back in 2005.  Phillips was 40 years old.