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HOUTZDALE -- A state prison inmate will stand trial for killing his cellmate last summer.
In October, state police charged Jacob Michael Mitchell, 33, with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, assault by prisoner, strangulation, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the death of Garrick Bloom at the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale.
Bloom, 48, who had been convicted of multiple child rape charges, was found unresponsive in his cell at 11:03 p.m. on Aug. 29. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
A trooper described Bloom as having bruises all over his face and markings on his neck that indicated he had been choked by some sort of string.
After a preliminary hearing Tuesday at the office of Magisterial District Judge James Glass in Houtzdale, Glass ruled that all charges be sent to the court of Common Pleas.
District Attorney Ryan Sayers confirmed that bail was denied to Mitchell, who is eligible for parole from state prison in the spring.
Because there didn't appear to be any premeditation, Sayers said this would not be a death penalty case, but Mitchell could face a minimum of 17 to 20 years in state prison with a maximum of 40 years.
Mitchell was serving a sentence of two to six years from Cambria County in July 2014 for felony theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
On Sept. 16, 2014, he was involved in an assault at another prison for which he was charged with four counts of aggravated assault. Eventually, he pleaded guilty to one count of simple assault and he received a 12- to 24-month consecutive sentence.
He was moved to Houtzdale in December 2014, according to online court documents.
Bloom, formerly of Shippenville, Clarion County, was serving a 40- to 80-year sentence that began in October 2019 after he was convicted of raping a child in Clarion County.
He had been at SCI Houtzdale since Dec. 5, 2019.
According to the affidavit, Mitchell told investigators that he was "passed out in his bunk" when he was awakened by Bloom touching him inappropriately.
He explained he then jumped out of bed and began assaulting Bloom. He got Bloom on the ground and then Bloom bit his finger, causing him to go "into a rage."
When asked at what point he strangled Bloom, he replied "I don't know. I just snapped. I'm sure I was the cause of whatever happened from there."
Officials were able to take photos of Mitchell's hand, which was reportedly extremely swollen by the assault.
Two of the corrections officers reported to police that Mitchell told them that he tied a string around Bloom's neck in an attempt to hang Bloom and make it look like a suicide.