An Alabama inmate was found dead in a holding cell Wednesday leading authorities to file murder charges against a corrections officer and two fellow inmates in connection with his death.
Alabama Department of Corrections Sgt. Demarcus Sanders, 31, and inmates Fredrick Gooden, 60, and Stefranio Hampton, 35, were charged with murder on Thursday.
Investigators said that the victim, 38-year-old Rubyn James Murray, was involved in a physical altercation with Sanders outside his dorm at Elmore Correctional Facility.
Both the officer and inmate sustained injuries, authorities said, with Murray taken to a back gate holding cell to be hospitalized for treatment.
But while he awaited transport to the hospital, the two other inmates broke into the holding area and fatally assaulted him. He was pronounced dead at the Staton Health Care Unit.
An investigation into the incident is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Elmore County authorities.
