Inmate found dead in prison cell in Lawton

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- An inmate was strangled in a private prison and his cellmate is the prime suspect in the killing, police said Monday.<br/><br/>Ronald Stanley Sites, 49, of Bartlesville, who was serving

Monday, January 31st 2005, 12:29 pm

By: News On 6

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- An inmate was strangled in a private prison and his cellmate is the prime suspect in the killing, police said Monday.

Ronald Stanley Sites, 49, of Bartlesville, who was serving time for assault with a dangerous weapon was killed Saturday night or Sunday morning, Lawton police Lt. Rusty Wright said.

Robert Cooper, 32, who is serving a life term for murder, was in the locked cell with Sites and is the main suspect, Wright said.

The Geo Group, Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla., runs the Lawton Correctional Facility, where the slaying took place. The medium-security prison has a capacity of about 1,900 prisoners.