Inmate

Authorities believe an inmate at the Maryland Correctional Training Center south of Hagerstown burned himself early Monday when he tried to light something in his cell, said Mark Vernarelli, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. "The inmate suffered a small welt and was treated on-site by MCTC medical personnel," Vernarelli said Monday in an e-mail. Vernarelli said the inmate possibly was trying to light a cigarette. The inmate suffered a second-degree burn to his left biceps, according to a press release from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.

An inmate was stabbed in a yard area at the Maryland Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said. The man was taken to the hospital, but his injury was not life-threatening, Danielle Lueking said. There were three possible assailants in the attack, which occurred at about 2 p.m. Lueking said. The inmate is serving a five-year sentence for burglary and a third-degree sex offense, Lueking said.

Authorities continue searching Tuesday morning for a Maryland Correctional Training Center inmate who walked away from a work detail near the prison south of Hagerstown on Monday afternoon, according to Maryland State Police. Jerome Taylor, 36, walked away from the outside work detail at the Hagerstown Regional Training Building on Division of Correction property at Roxbury Road at about 1:30 p.m. Monday, according to emailed information from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

A Washington County Detention Center inmate was charged with possessing contraband after authorities found prescription medications she had concealed in her body, police said. Kristie Ann Foster, 30, of Hagerstown, is believed to have had the medications inside her body when she was brought to the detention center on Thursday, according to a Washington County Sheriff's Office news release. Police said that deputies discovered 30 doses of Seboxone, 13 doses of Nadalol, four doses of 800 mg Ibuprofen and 15 doses of Benadryl, which is the only over-the-counter medication of the group.

Maryland state prison officials still have not determined how an inmate with a violent history escaped Friday from the Maryland Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown. Mark Vernarelli, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said Wednesday in an e-mail that officials would pass along information on the escape of inmate Dominic Webster as soon as it becomes available. Vernarelli said there is no evidence that Webster, 51, climbed over a fence or received help to escape.

A Baltimore woman was charged Monday with attempting to smuggle heroin and cocaine to an inmate at Roxbury Correctional Institution, according to Washington County District Court records. Darlene Tina Lovings, 47, was charged with possession with intent to deliver narcotics to someone in confinement, attempted delivery of contraband and three counts of possession of a controlled substance, court records show. Lovings appeared in District Court for a bail review Tuesday before District Judge Mark D. Thomas, who kept her bail at $75,000.

An inmate who walked away from a work detail Monday near Maryland Correctional Training Center south of Hagerstown was captured Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore, Maryland State Police said. Jerome C. Taylor, 36, was arrested shortly after noon in the 1000 block of Madison Avenue in Baltimore, according to a state police news release. Police said Taylor was not armed and offered no resistance when he was arrested while walking down the street. Taylor was serving a five-year sentence for firearms violations and filing a false police report, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said Monday.

Maryland State Police have released the name of an inmate who died after a correctional officer discovered him bleeding Tuesday night at Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown. Deavel M. Johnson, 22, was noticed standing near a bunk bed with blood on him at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday during a head count in a dormitory unit at the prison, according to a state police news release. Troopers said correctional officers gave Johnson first aid after he collapsed and took him to the MCI-H dispensary.

A Roxbury Correctional Institution inmate is under investigation for an attempted assault on a correctional officer Thursday night, a Maryland Division of Correction spokesman said Friday. Public Information Officer George Gregory said the correctional officer was treated for bruises to her chest and elbow, but did not require hospitalization. The incident happened at 8:05 p.m. at the prison south of Hagerstown, he said. Gregory said the officer called for assistance and that other correctional officers were able to take the inmate into custody.

An inmate at the Roxbury Correctional Institution was assaulted Thursday afternoon during an outdoor recreation period at the prison south of Hagerstown. "The staff responded immediately and summoned medical help for the inmate," said Division of Correction spokeswoman Maxine Eldridge. The inmate was taken to Washington County Hospital where he was under observation, Eldridge said. All inmates who were in the prison yard for recreation were returned to their cells, she said.

Two more former correctional officers at Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown have pleaded guilty in connection with an assault on an inmate at the prison in March 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The pleas of Lanny Harris, a former correctional sergeant, and former correctional officer Walter Steele bring to five the number of former RCI correctional officers who have pleaded guilty in connection with the 2008 beating of an inmate at RCI, and 10 others face charges in the assault, according to a news release from the Justice Department.

A stab wound to the neck resulted in the death of a 22-year-old inmate who was assaulted Tuesday night at Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown, according to Maryland State Police. The cause of Deavel M. Johnson's death was revealed during an autopsy at the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Baltimore, MSP spokesman Greg Shipley said Friday. He said the manner of death was ruled as a homicide. “No one has been charged at this time,” Shipley said. MSP investigators have concluded initial interviews with inmates and correctional officers who were at the scene when Johnson was stabbed, Shipley said.

The Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance's HOPE, or Hounds of Prison Education, program needs volunteers for its second branch at Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown. The program works in cooperation with RCI to train and rehabilitate homeless dogs from its member rescue facilities so the dogs can be successfully adopted into homes.  The program was established in 2005 and pairs screened inmates with dogs in need of a second chance.  The dogs that go to live at the prison come from sad and difficult situations, but have found safety in one of the member rescues of the alliance.  The dogs live at the prison with the inmate handlers and receive training from the handlers, as well as professional HOPE trainers, to help them reach their goals and finally find a home of their own. The program is looking to add volunteers who can help with transportation of the dogs to appointments, adoption events and to new homes.

Maryland State Police have released the name of an inmate who died after a correctional officer discovered him bleeding Tuesday night at Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown. Deavel M. Johnson, 22, was noticed standing near a bunk bed with blood on him at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday during a head count in a dormitory unit at the prison, according to a state police news release. Troopers said correctional officers gave Johnson first aid after he collapsed and took him to the MCI-H dispensary.

Attorneys' actions leading up to and at trial in 1998 underwent hours of questioning Thursday as a death row inmate seeks modifications to his conviction and sentence. Albert E. Reid, 64, formerly of Biglerville, Pa., was found guilty in the Dec. 27, 1996, killing of his estranged wife, Carla Reid, and her 14-year-old daughter Deidra Moore in a Sollenberger Road home outside Chambersburg. He has filed claims of inadequate performance from his attorneys, improper jury instructions and prosecutorial misconduct under the Post Conviction Relief Act. On Thursday morning, Reid's current attorney, Keisha Hudson, questioned one of his trial attorneys, Stephen Kulla of Waynesboro, Pa., about his choices and decisions.

A man accused of sexually assaulting a girl in 2009 told authorities he was assaulted by another male inmate at Eastern Regional Jail early Tuesday, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. The accused inmate, Aaron J. Stanback, 26, of Ronceverte, W.Va., was arraigned Tuesday on one count of first-degree sexual assault by Magistrate Charles C. Cole Sr., according to court documents. Police said Stanback indicated the encounter with John Paul Knipple Jr. was consensual and that he didn't mean to hurt him, according to court documents.

An ambulance crew continued to give CPR to an inmate in the Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown last Thursday while they were stuck in an elevator at the prison for - at most - 5 to 7 minutes, the ambulance company chief said Tuesday. The inmate, a 58-year-old man who had been convicted in Montgomery County, Md., was pronounced dead at Meritus Medical Center, Mark A. Vernarelli, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said Tuesday.

Grover, a dog in the America's VetDogs Program at Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown, is not 8 months old yet but already has learned to pick up objects, and sit, lay down, or stand on command. “He is a very affectionate dog,” said MCI-H Inmate James Dyson, one of Grover's handlers. “No matter what type of mood you're in, he feels the same way every day. He's always happy.” Dyson, 32, who has been incarcerated at MCI-H since 1999, demonstrated Grover's ability to understand commands at a presentation Tuesday.

The Franklin County (Pa.) Commissioners are expected to enter into an agreement this week with Waynesboro's New Hope Shelter to reimburse the shelter for services it provides to people being released from jail. The homeless shelter takes in Franklin County Jail inmates who do not have approved housing plans when they are ready to be released. Once there, the individuals receive not only meals and beds, but also job-readiness training, life skills instruction and one-on-one counseling.

A death row inmate convicted in Franklin County, Pa., returned to Chambersburg on Tuesday for a hearing related to his claims of inadequate performance from his attorneys, improper jury instructions and prosecutorial misconduct. Albert E. Reid, 64, formerly of Biglerville, Pa., was found guilty in the Dec. 27, 1996, killing of his estranged wife, Carla Reid, then 36, and her 14-year-old daughter Deidra Moore in a Sollenberger Road home outside Chambersburg. On Tuesday, a specially assigned senior judge, David Grine, presided over a status conference and scheduled a pair of hearings.