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Inmate Confesses To Strangulation Murder Of Cellmate

LOS ANGELES (CBS)  — An inmate at the Men's Central Jail has reportedly confessed to killing his 20-year-old cellmate, authorities said Friday.

Jonathan Najera, a Ventura man, was found dead about 7:20 a.m. Tuesday in the jail at 441 S. Bauchet St., said coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter.

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KNX 1070's Kim Marriner Reports

Najera's cause of death was listed as "asphyxiation due to a possible strangulation," he said.

"The homicide occurred between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. during inmate sleeping hours," Captain Mike Parker of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau said. "During the deputies' checks of the cell during the night, the victim inmate appeared to be sleeping in his cell."

The cellmate, whose name was not released, confessed to the killing, Parker said. The cell housed four inmates.

Najera was recently sentenced in an attempted murder case, Parker said.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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