PARCHMAN — State corrections officials said another inmate died in custody last week. The death marks the 76th inmate to perish behind bars in 2018, according to an unofficial count.

The Clarion Ledger reported Thursday that 23-year-old Ricardo K. West was declared dead after being found unresponsive in his cell at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Grace Fisher says West’s cause of death is pending an autopsy. She says he was serving time on charges including armed carjacking.

Fisher says an official count is pending. Sixteen inmates died in MDOC custody in August 2018 alone, and Commissioner Pelicia Hall has said a majority of those were due to natural causes.