Stateville Prisoner Serving 70-Year Sentence Jumps To His Death

(STMW) -- An inmate at Stateville Correctional Center jumped five floors to his death Thursday at the southwest suburban prison.

Angel Garcia, 33, apparently jumped about 12:15 p.m., after he had spent an hour speaking to his girlfriend in the visitor's area, Department of Corrections officials said in a release.

On his way back to his cell, he suddenly ran and jumped from the fifth floor of cell house C, the release said.

He suffered serious head trauma and other injuries, and was taken to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet where he died at 3:19 p.m., the release said.

He had been serving a 70-year sentence after he was convicted of murder in Cook County in 2009. He was scheduled to be paroled in 2079.

Garcia had previously been handed an 8-year sentence after he was convicted of the manufacture and delivery cannabis in 2005, also in Cook County, records show. He had also been convicted of aggravated vehicular hijacking and residential burglary in Cook County in 2000.

Prison officials said Garcia was not on suicide watch, and had not been a mental health patient.

The department continues to investigate the incident. It did not impact safety of other inmates or staff, the release said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)