West Virginia authorities say they have charged three Southern Region Jail inmates with murder in the beating death of a fourth inmate.

Senior State Trooper E.W. Boothe told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that Kevin Whittaker of Princeton was found unresponsive in his cell Saturday night and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Boothe said he was "beaten pretty severely" and an investigation led to the arrest on Monday of 21-year-old Dallas Allen Lauschin of Princeton, 33-year-old Thomas Antwan Jones of Princeton, and 41-year-old Anthony Lee Johnson of Oceana.

Boothe said all of the men had been incarcerated on misdemeanor charges and there's no indication they knew each other outside jail.

___

Information from: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, http://www.bdtonline.com