A man with a violent criminal history has been charged with murder in connection to the death of an inmate at the Denver Sheriff Department jail.

The Denver District Attorney’s Office charged 38-year-old Ricky Roybal-Smith with first-degree murder Wednesday in connection to the death of 34-year-old Vincent Chacon on June 30, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.

The incident occurred around 2 a.m. June 30 at the Denver Detention Center when a Denver Sheriff’s deputy was alerted that Chacon was choking on an apple, according to arrest records.

Upon arrival, deputies found Chacon unresponsive in his bunk. Roybal-Smith, Chacon’s cellmate, was escorted from the room. Chacon eventually died despite lifesaving efforts.

While speaking with investigators, Roybal-Smith became upset and abruptly stated “I did it. You might as well kill me now,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Investigators then found red marks on Chacon’s neck, likely signs of strangulation. There was no apple present in Chacon’s windpipe.

Roybal-Smith has a long criminal record in Colorado, stemming back to 2015.

9News reported that Roybal-Smith has been on parole five times since 2011 and reoffended in each case. In assessments calculating the risk of inmates to violate their parole, he scored high enough to be considered a “very high risk” on multiple occasions, but he continued to be released from sentences early.

He had pleaded guilty to vehicular assault charges stemming from a December 2015 incident, according to court records. Another was in June 2022, this time in connection with a weapons violation.

Roybal-Smith is also connected to twin fatal stabbings that took place in Aurora the day before Chacon’s death. He’s also facing murder charges in those cases.

The man had been arrested by the Denver Police Department on June 29 after an alleged hit-and-run incident near the intersection of West 9th Avenue and North Galapago Street around 2:40 p.m.

Police later found Roybal-Smith following another crash. Officers found a syringe partially filled with what authorities suspected was narcotics next to him, they said. Roybal-Smith was placed under arrest for driving under the influence of drugs, careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, and he was brought to the Downtown Detention Center.

“They threw a monster in that cell with my son,” Angela Hernandez, Chacon’s mother, told The Denver Gazette.

Roybal-Smith is due in court Dec. 4 for an advisement of the charges he faces.

The Denver Gazette reporter Michael Braithwaite contributed to this report