Teenage Reno murderer serving life sentence dies in prison

INDIAN SPRINGS, Nev. (KOLO) -A 26-year-old Nevada prison inmate serving a life sentence for a Reno murder he committed as a 13-year-old died Monday in a Clark County prison.

The death of Jose Cruz was not related to Wednesday's stabbing of two other inmates at the High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, the Nevada Department of Corrections said.

Cruz pleaded guilty in 2011 to second degree murder in the death of Stephen Gale, who tried to stop Cruz and three others from stealing a friend's purse on California Avenue. The four started a crime spree in Carson City that continued into Reno.

Washoe District Court Judge Patrick Flanagan sentenced Cruz to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus up to 15 more years for using a weapon to commit the crime.

An autopsy was requested for Cruz and no cause or manner of death were released by NDOC.