ENFIELD, Conn. -- After two violent attacks in Connecticut prisons this week, a state lawmaker, whose district includes several correctional facilities, is asking questions.

Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said he wants to know whether there needs to be increased staffing to prevent further violence.

There have been two violent outbursts in Connecticut prisons in the past two days. Convicted killer Kevin Cales was stomped to death in an attack at McDougall Walker Prison in Suffield, and death-row inmate Russell Peeler was injured in a fight with death-row inmate Daniel Webb.

Inmates on death row are not supposed to have contact with one another.

"We want to find out if there was a breakdown, maybe while moving inmates from a cell to another part of the building -- what exactly took place, and how we can learn from this event," Kissel said.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Eric Parker reported that the investigation into Cales' death is likely to lead to charges. The prime suspect in the beating is a distant relative of one of the people Cales was convicted of killing.

Parker reported that inmates are assessed before being placed in a particular prison, but the assessment is usually aimed at revealing rival gang members or close family.

"I don't know if further investigation would have turned that up," Kissel said.

He said that politicians who represent that part of the state have a big interest in understanding what goes on inside the prisons and ensuring that the institutions are safe.

"We do our bit by having these correctional facilities, and if there's trouble inside the facilities, that can spread to outside the facility," he said.