By Jennifer Rodriguez
The Charlotte Observer
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — An Indiana inmate will spend the rest of his life in prison after officials say he brutally killed his cellmate.
Lawrence Taylor, 44, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, according to a Feb. 20 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Attorney information for Taylor was not available.
On Jan. 12, 2019, a staff member at the Special Housing Unit in the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute walked past Taylor’s cell and noticed something unusual.
The employee saw Taylor’s cellmate, Jan Stevens, “lying on the lower bunk, partially covered with a sheet,” officials said. The employee then noticed a laceration on Stevens’ neck and blood on the wall and floor.
Taylor was inside the cell, standing in front of the door, according to officials.
The next day, an autopsy was done on Stevens and found he had been stabbed 43 times, prosecutors said.
Taylor and Stevens shared the same cell for three days before the fatal stabbing, according to officials.
Taylor told FBI agents he killed Stevens using a weapon he had for three months, prosecutors said.
“This murder extends beyond the taking of a life – it shatters the lives of those closest to the victim. Taylor’s act was heinous; well justifying the imposition of a life sentence,” John E. Childress, acting United States attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said.
Before the incident, Taylor was serving a 23-year sentence “for a series of bank robberies in 2009.” He was scheduled to be released in 2031.
Terre Haute is about a 75-mile drive southwest of Indianapolis.
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