Inmate from Placer County dies in suspected homicide at California prison
A former Placer County volleyball coach, convicted of child sex charges, was killed Friday in a suspected homicide at a Northern California prison, according to state corrections officials.
Mule Creek State Prison guards found inmate Robert Cole, 48, unresponsive in his cell about 6:30 a.m. Authorities began rendering medical aid and called 911, according to a news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Cole was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area. He was pronounced dead at 6:43 a.m., according to the CDCR news release. An autospy to determine his cause of death is pending.
His cellmate, Justin Welsh, was placed in “restricted housing” as the homicide investigation by prison staff and the Amador County District Attorney’s Office continues.
Cole, a Grass Valley resident, was hired as the Davis High School boys volleyball coach in 2014, before the offer was rescinded six hours later by school officials. He also taught at Northern California Volleyball Club, according to the Davis Enterprise newspaper, but it was unclear if he was working as a coach when he was arrested in 2018.
Cole was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 2019 for multiple charges related to sexually assaulting at least one child younger than 10 years old. His twin brother, who also worked as a volleyball coach in Placer County, was arrested on suspicion of oral copulation with a victim under the age of 18.
Welsh, 36, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for corporal injury on a person as a person with a prior conviction. He came to the Northern California prison from San Bernardino County.
