NFL Star Lawrence Phillips Found Dead

Phillips had been in prison since he was sentenced to 31 years in 2009 for trying to run over three teens with his auto and assaulting his girlfriend.

Former Rams running back Lawrence Phillips was found dead in his prison cell Wednesday and authorities suspect he took his own life.

On Tuesday, a Kern County Superior Court judge found there was enough evidence to hold him for trial on a charge of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait after prosecutors argued he strangled his sleeping, defenseless cellmate in April of a year ago.

Phillips, 40, was found unconscious just after midnight during a security check by staff at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano outside Bakersfield, the state corrections department said in a statement.

Former running back Phillips was one regarded as one of America’s top college football players.

“He was an intelligent person and had some good qualities”, Tom Osborne, Phillip’s coach at Nebraska, told the Associated Press news agency.

He was released by the Rams after two seasons after numerous off-the-field issues – he spent a total of 23 days in jail in his two seasons in St. Louis.

49ers: Trying to make a comeback after a year off due to injury, vying for a starting job, Phillips was waived by San Francisco in November 1999. He later ended his playing career with stints in the Arena Football League and the Canadian Football League. However, he noted several continuing problems with suicide prevention efforts at the prison where Phillips died.

Today, Phillips lost his life much too soon.

For the most part, fans spoke of Phillips’ impressive football career. Tonissa says they were extremely close and last spoke with him around the Christmas holiday and he was very upbeat and positive at time, focusing on becoming a better person.