Two federal inmates were indicted Thursday for the 2011 beating death of a fellow prisoner at the U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta.
Inmates Donald R. Lafond Jr., 52, and Jason Robert Widdison, 34, were exercising on March 1, 2011, when another inmate joined them and attempted to talk to them, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
Minutes later, Lafond and Widdison began to punch the victim from both front and behind, knocking the victim to the ground, according to witnesses. Both Lafond and Widdison then stomped on the victim’s head and neck, as many as 10 times each.
Corrections officers witnessed the incident and intervened, and Lafond and Widdison stopped the attack, but by then the victim was unconscious. The victim, whose name was not released, was transported to the hospital, but never regained consciousness and died April 5, 2011.
“Offenders who commit violent acts like this must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Yates said in an emailed statement. “The Department of Justice and its Bureau of Prisons endeavors to protect the life and safety of every federal inmate. We remain vigilant and will do everything we can to ensure that prisons are as safe as possible for every inmate and employee.”
Lafond and Widdison appeared Thursday in federal court in Atlanta before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janet F. King. The indictment charges that the defendants, aided and abetted by one another and with malice aforethought, killed the victim by punching and stomping him.
If convicted, the charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
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