According to a release from the Arkansas Department of Corrections, at approximately 12:20 p.m. Saturday, an inmate from Columbia County was pronounced dead at the Ouachita River Correctional Unit.
“Staff at Ouachita River Correctional Unit observed inmate Demeckus Singleton #154615 hanging in a locked single-man cell. Responding correctional officers and medical staff were unable to detect a pulse,”said Cindy Murphy, communications director for the ADC, in the press release.
The release stated that the Arkansas State Police responded to the prison, and that troopers will be conducting an investigation into Singleton’s death. The Arkansas Division of Correction will also be conducting an internal investigation, according to the release.
Singleton, 28, was serving a 20-year sentence out of Columbia County for theft of property, two counts of terroristic threatening and absconding in 2010.
According to court records Singleton was charged with terroristic threatening in the first degree for pulling a gun and threatening to kill another man on June 5, 2010. Shortly afterward, on July 13, 2010, Singleton was charged with terroristic threatening in the first degree by threatening to cause harm to three other people.
On July 15, 2010, Officer Jeremy Criss received a call on his radio about a stolen 2004 green Nissan Armada. He found the vehicle crashed on the intersection of North Dudney and East Columbia Streets, according to court documents. A driver on the scene reported seeing a man in the middle of East Columbia pulling an elderly woman and a young male out of a silver Mercedes. The driver said he pulled his vehicle in front of the Mercedes in an attempt to stop the man from driving away, and that his truck was hit by the man as he left the scene.
Singleton was arrested betwee June and August of 2010. He reportedly attempted suicide while incarcerated at the Columbia County Jail, and in August of 2010, then-Circuit Judge Larry Chandler approved an order for Singleton to undergo a forensic psychological evaluation. Singleton was subsequently declared not-fit to proceed in court and was transfered to the Arkansas State Hospital for care and treatment.
On August 18, 2011, the state hospital found Singleton to be competent enough and fit to go to trial. In February, 2013, Singleton pleaded guilty to charges against him and was sentenced to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.