Lloyd Avery II died in prison on September 4, 2005, after being attacked and killed by his cellmate during what was described as a Satanic ritual.

What Happened

  • Lloyd Avery II was serving a life sentence in a California prison for a 1999 double homicide when he died.
  • On September 4, 2005, his cellmate, Kevin Roby, who identified as a Satanist, assaulted and strangled him in their cell.
  • Reports describe the killing as part of a ritual: Avery’s body was arranged in or over a pentagram drawn in his own blood, and prison staff discovered him after the fact.

Official Cause of Death

  • An autopsy found that Avery died from a combination of blunt force trauma to the head and blood aspirating into his lungs.
  • Prison and medical records list aspiration of blood with blunt force trauma as the key medical causes.

Context Around His Death

  • Before his death, Avery had reportedly become a practicing Christian in prison and tried to convert his cellmate, which multiple accounts say led to tensions and arguments.
  • Kevin Roby was already serving life without parole for the rape and murder of his sister and later received additional punishment for killing Avery.

Quick Scoop Summary

  • Where: Pelican Bay State Prison, Crescent City, California.
  • When: September 4, 2005, at age 36.
  • How: Beaten and strangled by his cellmate during a reported Satanic ritual; medical cause was blunt force trauma and aspiration of blood.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.