A prison guard in Texas was beaten to death Wednesday as he was escorting an inmate through a prison.
The death of Correctional Officer Timothy Davison, 47, marks the first time since 2007 that Texas prison staff dies in the call of duty.
At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Davison was escorting inmate Billy Joel Tracy, 37, inside the Barry B. Telford Unit in New Boston, Texas when the inmate grabbed an iron bar typically used to open cell doors from Davison and proceeded to beat him with it.
Davison was transferred to Christus St. Michael’s Hospital in Texarkana where he later died. His body was sent to Dallas for an autopsy.
Davison had been working at the Barry B. Telford Unit since last December.
Tracy, who was already housed in a single cell as per administrative segregation, was shuttled to an undisclosed maximum-security prison after the incident. No charges have been levied against him.
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Tracy has a long history of escape attempts and attacking prison personnel, such as a 2005 assault of a prison worker which added 45 years to his life sentence. Tracy had previously been convicted of aggravated assault and burglary in Rockwall County, Texas.
An investigation into Davison’s death is being conducted by the Office of Inspector General.
Copyright 2015 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
