Essex County Prisoner Gets 29 Years For Killing Cellmate

NEWARK, NJ — A 34-year-old man incarcerated at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark has been sentenced to almost three decades in state prison for beating and choking his cellmate to death, authorities say.

On Monday, Rahdi Richardson was sentenced to 29 years at New Jersey State Prison after admitting that he killed his former cellmate, Desmond Sanders, 27, of Newark.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, jail staff found Sanders deceased inside his jail cell with Richardson, on Sept. 1, 2013. In February, while in the midst of jury selection, Richardson pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, admitting he beat and choked Sanders to death the night before his body was discovered.

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At the time of Sanders’ killing, both men were co-defendants and were being held in connection with a June 2013 armed robbery, prosecutors said.

Richardson has four prior felony convictions for drug and gun-related offenses, according to prosecutors.

In addition to the manslaughter plea, Richardson pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and weapons charges. He was sentenced to 15 years on those charges. That sentence will run concurrent with his manslaughter sentence, prosecutors said.

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