Convicted child molester strangled in prison

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 27-year-old Valdosta State Prison inmate was strangled to death, according to the Lowndes County coroner.

Georgia Department of Correction John W. Arnett, an inmate in Valdosta State Prison, was strangled to death, according to Bill Watson, Lowndes County Coroner. He was serving a sentence for child molestation.

Georgia Department of Correction Anthony Tyler Rogers, already serving life in prison for murder, has been accused of killing another inmate in the Valdosta State Prison.

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John Arnett, who was convicted of child molestation in both Bartow and Appling counties, was found in his cell last Thursday. The cause of death was manual strangulation, according to Coroner Bill Watson.

Arnett's sentence began last July, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

An inmate already serving time for a previous murder conviction has been accused in Arnett's death. Anthony Rogers has been in jail since October 1998 following his conviction for murder in the Savannah area.

Arnett is at least the third state inmate to die in recent weeks.

On Jan. 1, guards at the state prison in Jackson found 35-year-old Leeland Mark Braley hanging in his cell. Prison officials say Braley, sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder of a Zebulon insurance agent, apparently took his own life.

Timothy Pruitt's death more than three weeks earlier was ruled an "alleged suicide," though his death remains under investigation.

- Christian Boone contributed to this report