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Montana Prison Inmate Dies of Apparent Suicide, Autopsy Pending

36-year-old Christopher Huntsman was found unresponsive in his cell on Monday

By Associated Press

BILLINGS — An inmate has died in an apparent suicide at a regional prison in Glendive.

The Department of Corrections says 36-year-old Christopher Huntsman died Tuesday at Billings Clinic. He was found unresponsive Monday evening in his cell at the Dawson County Correctional Facility.

The Billings Gazette reports an autopsy is planned to determine Huntsman’s cause of death. If it is found to be a suicide it would be the first in the state prison system since an inmate at Crossroads Correctional Facility in Shelby killed himself in September 2016.

A coroner’s inquest will be held.

Huntsman was serving a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated assault in Lake County in 2010. Prosecutors said he shook his 3-month-old daughter when she wouldn’t stop crying. At the time, prosecutors said it did not appear the infant suffered permanent injuries.