SAN DIEGO (AP) – A sailor charged with murder who committed suicide in the brig at Camp Pendleton asphyxiated himself by stuffing toilet paper in his mouth, according to a U.S. Navy spokesperson.

Petty Officer Jonathan Campos was found unresponsive in his cell about 12:20 p.m. Friday, said Navy spokesperson Doug Sayers. He was rushed to the base hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

“He was intent on committing suicide and stuffed toilet paper into his mouth until he asphyxiated,” Sayers said.

Campos, 32, of Lancaster, Calif., was charged July 23 in connection with the fatal shooting of Seaman August Provost of Houston. On June 30, Provost, 29, was shot several times while on duty in a sentry station at Camp Pendleton.

Provost’s remains were set on fire in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence, Navy officials said.

Campos was charged July 23 with 16 criminal offenses, including murder, unlawful handling of a dead body, stealing military property and soliciting a civilian to kill a fellow sailor. He had been in Navy custody since July 1 and faced an investigative hearing in military court, similar to a grand jury, in the coming weeks.

Provost’s family believed his shooting may have been a hate crime. The family said Provost, who was gay, complained of being harassed about his sexuality in the days before his death.

Navy officials rejected those claims and said there is no record of Provost filing a harassment report.

The Navy says Campos did not target Provost for being gay and planned to commit several crimes on base.

Officials said Campos, a gas system technician, had been cooperating with investigators.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service continued to investigate the shooting death, according to Sayers.

An autopsy has been ordered for Campos.

The Navy says it will continue investigating Seaman Provost’s killing even though the suspect apparently committed suicide in San Diego County.

Navy spokesperson Brian O’Rourke says the military owes answers to Provost’s family.

Campos and Provost were both assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5, but officials said there was no indication they had a close association.

Campos enlisted in the Navy in December 2001. Provost entered the Navy in March 2008 and reported to Camp Pendleton last September.

Ten days before the Provost shooting, Campos was arrested in Imperial Beach and charged with driving under the influence. Campos also faced charges for illicit drug use, as well as breaking into another servicemember’s home where $5,400 worth of electronics, jewelry and a .45 caliber pistol was stolen, military officials said.

Navy and Marine officials say the brig Campos was held in was under video surveillance because he’d made two previous suicide attempts.

They didn’t specify when, where or how Campos tried to kill himself on the two earlier occasions.

It’s unclear whether the Camp Pendleton brig staff correctly followed policies for dealing with suicidal prisoners. A Navy regulation mandates that such individuals “shall be placed in special quarters under continuous observation.”

Another section of the regulation says those prisoners need to be “physically checked every five minutes.” It also requires the monitoring to be annotated on an operational report.

Pendleton spokesperson Maj. Kristen Lasica-Khaner said Monday that a guard visually checked Campos every five minutes as Navy regulations require. However, there may have been a 36-minute gap between physical inspections.

According to a Navy news release issued last week, guards checked on Campos at 11:45 a.m. Friday and found him well. At 12:21 p.m., they discovered that he was “unresponsive on his cot.”

The base is still investigating both deaths.