VALDOSTA, Ga. — A Valdosta State Prison inmate, Elander Johnson, died on July 25, and a Central Prison inmate, Michael Perry, died on July 24, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

The deaths are both under investigation, considered “standard operating procedure” by GDC.

Johnson’s death is believed to be a homicide at this point. GDC released a statement saying that Johnson sustained fatal injuries during a fight with a fellow inmate.

Johnson was serving a 25 year sentence which he received for a 2017 armed robbery conviction in Whitfield County.

According to GDC, Johnson’s prison identification number was 1000688020 and was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m..

This comes one day after another inmate, Michael Allan Perry (GDC #807430) incarcerated at Central State Prison in Macon, Ga., was found deceased around 8:45 a.m. on July 24 from “an apparent suicide,” according to GDC.

Found unresponsive in his cell, GDC states that EMS were called and “life saving measures were performed,” but Perry was pronounced dead by the coroner at approximately 9:48 a.m.

Perry was serving a sentenced for rape, child molestation, cruelty to children and aggravated sexual battery, with a maximum release date of 2100.

These deaths are added to an already sizable list. Earlier this year, three inmates died in a week at Georgia state prison, one in an “apparent homicide” and two others in “suspected suicides,” according to officials.

AJC reported those deaths were at Calhoun State Prison, Smith State Prison, and Baldwin State Prison in just a few days in early February 2019, which included Raymond Nelson, 50, Daquan Young, 27, and David Payne, in his 30s.

Nelson was only two months from being released at the time of his death.

There were more deaths in May 2019. Two inmates died at Johnson State Prison, reported by AJC.

Inmate suicides continue to rise in Georgia prisons, as do deaths from medical conditions, such as diabetes.

Georgia’s prison deaths have been noted for years. In 2018, it broke records.

In January 2018, GDC released statements saying that three inmates had “apparently” killed themselves within a less than three week period – two on the same day.

Fifteen state prisoners reportedly committed suicide in 2017, including one who died at an area hospital so the DOC did not include him in the agency’s inmate suicide count, AJC wrote.

In 2016, by comparison, nine inmates committed suicide.

The rate of Georgia inmate suicides in 2017 exceeded the national rate of 17 inmate suicides per 100,000 prisoners. Georgia’s approximately 52,000 Georgia prisoners, 15 suicides translates into a rate of 28.5 per 100,000 prisoners.

In 2017, one of the inmates who is suspected of killing himself was on Death Row and three were in isolation cells.