State police are investigating as a homicide the death of an inmate who was involved in a fight with other prisoners at Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Clayton.

Anibal Ortiz, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder and two firearms offenses, was pronounced dead at an area hospital after an altercation Sept. 2.

New Mexico State Police provided few details about the fatal fight. Agency spokesperson Officer Wilson Silver wrote in an email State Police responded to the facility "in regard to an inmate death" about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 2.

"The investigation originated after a multiple inmate altercation occurred inside one of the inmate pods," he wrote. "Once the inmates were secured, four inmates were located with injuries."

Ortiz, 48, sustained fatal injuries, a

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