IONE – A convicted child molester has died in a suspected homicide at Mule Creek State Prison Friday morning.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says, around 6:30 a.m., correctional officers saw inmate Robert E. Cole was unresponsive in his cell.

Officers started life-saving measures and Cole was taken to the prison's triage and treatment center. Paramedics pronounced Cole dead minutes later, officials say.

Cole's exact cause of death is still being investigated, but CDCR has classified the incident as a homicide. Justin P. Welsh, Cole's cellmate, is now in restricted housing due to the investigation.

CDCR says Cole had been at Mule Creek since 2019 for a life with the possibility of parole sentence on multiple sex crimes against children convictions. He was 48 years old.

Welsh has been at Mule Creek since 2023 for an 18-year sentence out of San Bernardino County on several second-strike offenses.