Public Defense

Inmate murdered by victim?s relative

By Gideon

Kevin Cales was sentenced to life a few months ago for the deaths of 5 people, whose car he ran off the road in a high-speed pursuit. The car he was chasing was driven by his ex-girlfriend, whom he was stalking.

Cales was attacked from behind while he was seated at a table eating lunch.

Correction sources said the inmate who killed Cales is an 18-year-old man who is serving a seven-year sentence for robbery and, until Tuesday morning, was being housed in the same unit as Cales. The sources said they believed the attacker was related to one of the victims in the crash.

The assailant punched Cales, who was seated, knocking him to the ground, and stomped on his head and neck, sources said. The attack took seconds, before correction officers were able to reach him, sources said.

Some may say, well, he got what was coming to him. I just think it’s sad. What’s also curious is that the DOC is usually good about identifying potential problems with other inmates housed in the same unit. They won’t house co-defendants together, nor will they house inmates who are related to victims in the same unit (heck, even the same facility) as the offenders.

But then again, this is prison. If you want to get to someone, you almost always can.

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Full post as published by A Public Defender on May 14, 2008 (boomark / email).