Inmate dies after fight in Woodville prison

Published 2:50 pm Thursday, April 2, 2020

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WOODVILLE, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi inmate has died after a fight with his cellmate in a privately run prison.

David Young died Wednesday in a Jackson hospital after being flown there from the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville, according to a news release Thursday from Management & Training Corporation, which runs the prison.

The company said the other inmate is being treated at a hospital near the prison. His name was not released, and the fight is being investigated.

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An autopsy will be done on 42-year-old Young, who was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction and two 20-year sentences for aggravated assault. He was sentenced in Hinds County in December 1998.

Mississippi’s prison system is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department because several inmates died during outbursts of violence late last year and early this year. Young was at least the 31st Mississippi inmate to die since late December.