Man killed in stabbing at Alabama state prison

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An inmate was stabbed to death at a state prison in Springville in what was the sixth fatal stabbing in the Alabama prison system this year.

Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton said in a news release that the stabbing occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville.

Horton said 33-year-old Rogarius Bray was fatally stabbed during a fight with another inmate in a housing area. Bray was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.

Prison officials said 42-year-old Brandy Harris was identified as a suspect and will be charged with firstdegree murder. It is not immediately clear if Harris has a lawyer.

Prison officials said they do not know what caused the fight that led to the fatal stabbing.

The victim was serving a life sentence for a 2003 first-degree robbery and murder conviction in Jefferson County. Harris is serving a 50-year sentence for a 1997 murder conviction in Walker County.

Six inmates have been fatally stabbed in state prisons this year. Three of those were at St. Clair.

The Equal Justice Initiative in 2014 filed a class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections because of the number of homicides and assaults at St. Clair. The lawsuit was settled in December.