Raymond Earl Coffey Jr., 23, of Tallahatchie County, was killed last week in what the Mississippi Department of Corrections is calling an inmate-on-inmate incident.
The incident occurred at approximately 2 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, MDOC reported in a news release. The exact cause of death was not indicated.
The MDOC statement said the assailants were apprehended with the aid of “video evidence,” adding that they and others involved in the incident are in lockdown and under investigation.
“Based on the information we have thus far, the killing appears to be gang related,” said MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain. “We’ve been working diligently over the last three years to eradicate gangs from our prisons. We are making significant progress, as we have reduced gang membership by hundreds and their numbers continue to dwindle. MDOC will continue to use every available tool at our disposal to clamp down on illicit and gang activity inside of Mississippi’s prisons.”
Coffey, of Teal Lane, Tillatoba, had been incarcerated twice over four years on felony burglary charges, MDOC reported.
At the time of his death, he was serving a 3½ year sentence for an August 2022 residential burglary conviction out of Lafayette County, according to his inmate profile on the MDOC website, a profile since removed.
The profile indicated that Coffey was being housed at Parchman’s Unit 30 after most recently entering the prison system May 24, and had been moved Aug. 31.
MDOC noted that its Corrections Investigative Division director, Steven Chambers, a former FBI investigator for 20 years, is conducting the inquiry. At the close, evidence will be turned over to the Sunflower County district attorney for criminal prosecution.
