The Nebraska Correctional Services Department says 46-year-old Steven Braesch died Tuesday at a Lincoln hospital. Prison staffers began CPR after Braesch was found unresponsive in his cell.
He’d been sentenced in November 2014 to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes. Braesch shot his dad, 69-year-old William Braesch, five times within the clear view of three children under the age of 7 at the family home in Gretna.
The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating the death, and a grand jury will conduct an investigation. Nebraska law requires a grand jury to investigate whenever someone dies in custody or while being taken into custody.
A department spokeswoman didn’t immediately answer a request for data that compares Nebraska’s prison inmate suicide rate with national or other states’ rates.