photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Joshua Matthews

A man who was convicted of battery against three Douglas County corrections workers died in his cell at the El Dorado Correctional Facility, the Kansas Department of Corrections said in a news release Saturday morning.

Joshua Matthews, 38, was found unresponsive in his cell on Friday. Staff began life-saving measures immediately and continued after emergency services arrived, but were unsuccessful, the release said. The cause of death is pending an independent autopsy as the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and KDOC investigate.

Matthews was serving a 245-month sentence, or just over 20 years, for his convictions against the Douglas County workers. Those crimes occurred in 2015. Prior to that he had served time for offenses in 2012 involving drugs, aggravated assault on a law enforcement enforcer and fleeing and eluding.