Sep 5, 2014 1 min read

WAYNESBURG – An SCI-Greene inmate serving a life sentence for the stabbing death of his girlfriend died in prison.

Robert Gilmore, superintendent of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said inmate Cleveland Lee Rivers Jr., 59, was found hanging in his cell at approximately 6:15 a.m. Friday during a security check of the housing unit he was located in.

Rivers received a life sentence without the possibility of parole in 1998 for the brutal stabbing death of Juanita Giles, 34, July 15, 1997, in Allegheny County.

According to news reports, Rivers chased Giles through the home they shared, stabbing her dozens of times and breaking two knives in the process.

Gilmore said prison staff immediately responded to Rivers cell providing life-saving measures until facility medical personnel arrived. Rivers was pronounced dead at the institution by a prison physician.

State police were notified and will conduct an investigation in accordance with commonwealth policy. The official cause of death will be determined by the Greene County Coroner’s Office.

Rivers’ next of kin was notified.