GLENNVILLE, Georgia— An inmate in Georgia shot and killed a kitchen worker before committing suicide early Sunday, authorities said.
The Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement that it is investigating the deaths at Smith State Prison, in the rural southeastern part of the state. The agency did not provide details, such as how the inmate obtained the gun.
The agency said in its statement that inmate Jaydrekus Hart shot and killed a food service employee around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, and then killed himself with the same gun.
Reached by phone, agency spokeswoman Lori Benoit did not provide further details. She said more details will be released when they become available.
The name of the murdered employee, who worked for the Aramark food company, was not immediately released.
“We are saddened by the loss of our colleague and our hearts and prayers go out to her family,” an Aramark spokeswoman, Debbie Albert, said in a statement. “This is a tragedy for all of us.”
He added that the company is assisting authorities in their investigation.
It is the second murder of a prison employee in less than a year. Correctional officer Robert Clark, 42, died last October when the inmate he was escorting attacked him from behind with an improvised weapon.
A state investigation into prison contraband led to the dismissal and arrest of prison warden Brian Adams in February 2023.
Hart had been incarcerated since 2015 after being convicted in Carroll County of involuntary manslaughter and assault, according to online jail records. The earliest date he could have been released would have been 2043.
Smith State Prison, with a capacity of 1,500 inmates, is a facility that houses offenders considered violent or flight risks.
Source: AP
