A Lawrence County man imprisoned for strangling a newborn child has taken his own life.

Christopher Kennedy, 42, formerly of Wampum, PA was found unresponsive in his cell on Friday according to officials at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview, according to prison officials.

Kennedy was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center where he died.

The Centre County Coroner ruled the death a suicide, saying Kennedy hung himself.

Kennedy, who had been an inmate at Rockview since December, was serving an 18- to 36-year sentence for murder.

Investigators say in 2017, Kennedy strangled a baby who was given birth by a 15-year-old girl he had sexually assaulted.

According to authorities, after killing the child, Kennedy put the baby in a plastic bag and then sealed it with concrete inside a safe.

 The crime was discovered after the teen revealed what had happened after she was hospitalized due to complications from giving birth. 

Kennedy was convicted of third-degree murder conspiracy and involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a person under 16.

State police are investigating Kennedy’s death.