SUFFIELD, Conn. -- A man convicted in connection with a crash that left five people dead died following a prison beating on Tuesday.

State Department of Correction officials said that Kevin Cales, 34, of New Britain, died at St. Francis Hospital around 10:30 p.m.

Cales had been beaten by a fellow inmate at McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield on Tuesday morning.

Cales was convicted on manslaughter charges in the deaths of five people in May 2006. His ex-girlfriend and four passengers in her car died after their car crashed in Berlin while being chased by a car driven by Cales.

The cars involved, a Honda Accord and a Volvo, reached speeds over 100 mph on Route 71, also known as the Chamberlain Highway.

The Honda was torn in half by a tree and caught fire after the driver, Maryneliz Jimenez, 21, lost control of the vehicle. Her friends, Gene Galarza, 19; Edmundo Carrasquillo, 21; Luis Andino, 18; and Brandon Shannon, 18; also died.

Cales' mother told Eyewitness News that she believes her son was attacked in retaliation for the crash.

"There's a connection to the crash. It's under investigation, but I know there's a connection," she said.

Cales was sentenced in April to 79 years in prison.

Sources told Eyewitness News that a relative of a woman killed in the crash is the one who attacked Cales.

According to sources, 28-year-old Waldemar Rivera, who is serving a seven-year robbery sentence at McDougal, beat Cales to death by kicking him in the head.

The prison remained locked on Wednesday evening while the investigation continued.