Lawrence Phillips Dead: Former NFL Star Found Unresponsive In Prison Cell

Lawrence Phillips has died. The 40-year-old, ex-NFL player was discovered unresponsive in his prison cell on Jan. 13 and pronounced dead shortly after. The former St. Louis Rams star was serving a 31-year sentence for a long list of charges, including felony assault and domestic abuse.

The tragic story of Lawrence Phillips, 40, has come to a very sad end. The former star of the NFL had a bright future, but his path led him to a prison cell and ultimately, death. Authorities are still investigating what exactly happened to Lawrence, but they haven’t ruled out suicide.

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Lawrence was unresponsive during a routine security check at the Kern Valley State Prison in California on Jan. 13, according to TMZ.  Authorities quickly transported him to an outside hospital but it was too late. He was pronounced dead at 1:27 am, and his next of kin were notified of his passing. There are few details about his death at the moment, but the authorities are investigating it as a suicide.

The former football star had been in solitary confinement since April 2015, after he was suspected of killing his cellmate, 37-year-old Damion Soward. Lawrence was serving a 31-year sentence for a plethora of convictions. In Aug. 2005, Lawrence was arrested for assault after allegedly driving a car into three teenagers after a fight over a pick-up game of football. While serving his initial 10-year sentence, he was convicted for assault on his former girlfriend, Nicole Moore.

Lawrence was considered a top college football player while at the University of Nebraska, helping lead them to a National championship in 1994. However, that year, he was charged with assault and vandalism. In 1995, he was arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Kate McEwen. There was a public outcry when coach Tom Osborne didn’t kick Lawrence off the team following the charges.

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After turning pro a year early, Lawrence went to play for the St. Louis Rams, but his legal trouble followed. During year-and-a-half with the Rams, Lawrence spent 23 days in jail. In 1997, he went to play for the Miami Dolphins. He only lasted two games, as the team released him after he pleaded no contest to assaulting a woman in a Florida nightclub.

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Lawrence missed the 1998 NFL season, returning to play for the San Francisco 49ers in 1999. During a disastrous game against the Arizona Cardinals, Lawrence failed to block a blitzing Aeneas Williams. Aeneas tackled Steve Young, causing a career-ending concussion. Lawrence was released at the end of the 1999 season, and though he tried to play in both the Arena and Canadian Football Leagues, he never regained his old glory. Lawrence fell back to his bad habits, ultimately ending up alone and dead in prison.

We will continue to update this story with further information, HollywoodLifers. Our thoughts go out to his family at this time.