Inmate arrested after apparent beating death at Idaho prison

BOISE (AP) — Authorities have arrested a suspect in the apparent beating death of an inmate at the Idaho State Correctional Institution south of Boise.

The Idaho Statesman reports security workers responded to an altercation in a housing unit early Saturday morning and found 57-year-old Gerald B. Cummings Jr. unresponsive and injured. Cummings was pronounced dead a little more than an hour later.

Patrick Orr, a spokesman for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, says another inmate was arrested for the death. His name has not been released.

Cummings was serving three sentences for possession of a controlled substance convictions in Twin Falls County District Court. He would have completed his final sentence in July 2025.

The Idaho State Correctional Institution is a 1,557-bed, medium-security men’s prison.