Man got 4 years for stealing 4 chargers. He was beaten to death in Fla. prison

Christopher Howell was less than halfway into a four-year sentence at Lake Correctional Institution, a men’s prison near Orlando, when he died. He was serving time for stealing four phone chargers from a West Palm Beach Target.

He did not die of old age, by suicide or of COVID-19, a disease that has taken the lives of 19 inmates across the Florida prison system.

Howell, 51, was killed at the hands of a corrections officer, who beat him while the inmate’s hands were cuffed, multiple prison sources said.

The brutal beating happened Thursday. The Florida Department of Corrections says he was pronounced dead Friday at an area hospital.

A spokesman for the department said it cannot release the names of officers involved in ongoing investigations. Nor would it release the name of the victim, Howell, though prison sources did. He was listed as “deceased” in the department database Monday.

As is custom when an inmate dies by any means, the prison system listed him as “out [of ] custody” effective June 19. The department released a statement Friday night, naming no one and stating: “Any employee found to have acted inappropriately or illegally faces disciplinary action up to and including dismissal and arrest. FDC has zero tolerance for staff who act inappropriately and contrary to our core values: respect, integrity, courage, selfless service and compassion.”

Howell entered the prison system on Feb. 20, 2019, a month before the officer in question was hired. He had a projected release date of June 3, 2022.

Howell was arrested in September 2018 after he stole an $8 folding knife from a West Palm Beach Home Depot and then walked to a nearby Target and stole four $15 portable phone chargers. According to a probable cause affidavit, he gave back two of the chargers but when asked by an employee for the others, he said, “I have a knife, man,” and showed it, blade pointing out.

Howell was charged with theft and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — a felony. According to the affidavit, Howell was labeled as “disabled” with a “juvenile disposition.” He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the arrest.

Howell was beaten by the corrections officer after refusing a command in his cell and while he was still in handcuffs as two other officers watched but did not intervene, according to inmates and one officer who still works at the prison.

The details of the beating are unclear, but multiple people said Howell was left with a broken neck and was dead shortly after the assault, despite attempts to revive him.