A 46-year-old man accused of killing his father and stepmother was found dead in his cell in Vernon Parish on Friday.
At 12:48 p.m. on February 19, Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office jail personnel monitoring the surveillance cameras within the jail witnessed offender, Robert Matthew Lombardo, fall to the floor in his segregation cell where he was housed alone, according to officials.
Jail personnel responded to the cell immediately and began providing medical assistance and CPR to Lombardo.
Investigators say jail personnel observed some type of injury to Lombardo's left eye.
Ambulance personnel arrived on the scene and continued to preform CPR and attempted other life saving measures, but they were unsuccessful in reviving Lombardo, according to a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office.
Detectives arrived and processed the scene.
Jail surveillance video of Lombardo's cell was reviewed and showed Lombardo sitting on the edge of his bed. Detective's observed Lombardo take an ink pen and forcefully shove his face area down onto the end of the pen twice before falling to the floor.
Coroner personnel arriving on the scene conducted a cursory examination of the wound and were able to determine that a significant length of the ink pen penetrated Lombardo's eye and punctured his orbital socket resulting in a fatal brain injury, according to investigators.
The only items in Lombardo's cell at the time were personal hygiene items, writing paper, one ink pen, one western novel, and a Bible.
Lombardo had been arrested and charged with two counts of second degree murder on February 16, 2021 in relation to the murders of his father and stepmother in Jeane Chapel Trailer Park.
The investigation into this matter is ongoing.
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