Prosecutor: Ohio inmate slain while riding in transport van

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio prison inmate was strangled to death while riding in a corrections agency transport van with other prisoners and guards aboard, a prosecutor said today.

The van was leaving Columbus and headed back to the Ross County Correctional Institution in Chillicothe 50 miles away when the Wednesday afternoon slaying happened, said Ross County Prosecutor Matthew Schmidt. Guards can't see inmates in the van, he said.

Schmidt said the slain inmate apparently was housed at the Ross County prison and had been taken to Columbus for medical treatment. He died sometime during the return trip, he said.

"When the bus arrived back in Ross County there was a dead inmate," Schmidt said.

While in the van, inmates are positioned in different sections of the van and secured with handcuffs and a chain around their stomach, but can move from seat to seat within those sections, he said.

It wasn't clear how the slaying occurred if inmates were handcuffed.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating. The patrol released a bare-bones report today saying only that an inmate was a suspect in killing another inmate. The Ross County Coroner's Office said it was investigating the death as a homicide.