Former NFL No. 1 Draft Pick Committed Suicide By Hanging, According To Autopsy

Lawrence Phillips’ cause of death is no longer a mystery.

The St. Louis Ram’s 1996 No. 1 draft pick hanged himself with a bed sheet Jan. 13, according to a USA Today report, citing a copy of Phillips’ autopsy.

Phillips’ cause of death was not known when guards at the Kern Valley State Prison in California found the 40 year-old “unresponsive” in his cell six months ago, but suicide was expected.

Guards found Phillips “hanging from a five-foot high, metal television shelf,” in his cell with a note taped to his chest that read “Do not Resuscitate,” before he was rushed to a nearby hospital in Bakersfield, California, where he was pronounced dead, according to the autopsy report obtained by USA Today.

A former star running back at Nebraska, Phillips was moved to segregated confinement (in a cell by himself) after being accused of killing his cellmate in April 2015. His death came just one day after a California judge ruled there was enough evidence to try Phillips on the murder charge.

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Phillips was serving a 31-year sentence on separate charges stemming from a domestic assault on his former girlfriend and hitting three individuals with his car.

Due to his “segregated” status, he was checked on by guards twice an hour.

The last checkup came at 11:35 p.m. on Jan. 12, when guards checked in with him again at 12:05 a.m., it was already too late. He was pronounced dead at 1:27 a.m. in Bakersfield.

Phillips played three seasons in the NFL with the Rams, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers. In 2009 he was sent to prison for twice choking his ex-girlfriend and striking three teenagers with his vehicle.