SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Investigators said a 35-year-old South Carolina man killed himself just two days after being convicted of committing a lewd act on a minor.

Howard Darrell Melton was found unconscious in his prison cell at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia Friday morning, according to a press release from the state Department of Corrections.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the death.

"We did have a confirmed suicide from the Department of Corrections," said Ted Kennedy, chief deputy coroner for Richland County.

The State newspaper reported that Richland County deputy coroner Ted Kennedy said Melton suffocated himself by stuffing toilet paper in his mouth and his nostrils.

When Melton was in the custody of the Spartanburg County Detention Center, he was considered a suicide risk. Melton was taken to Kirkland early Thursday morning.

Melton ran Timber Creek Retriever Training with his black Labrador retriever, Timber, according to The Herald-Journal.