A Georgia inmate, Jacob Henson, met a tragic end at a hospital after he pepper-sprayed a prison guard and was subsequently charged with another officer on Tuesday night, authorities disclosed.
Henson, 31, was receiving medical treatment around 8:45 p.m. following a stabbing incident during a prior altercation inside Washington State Prison. The altercation escalated when Henson engaged in a confrontation with one of the accompanying state corrections officers, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
The GBI reported that Henson managed to overpower the officer and seize the guard’s pepper spray, rendering the officer “incapacitated” after dispersing the gas.
Subsequently, as Henson attempted to confront another corrections officer while still utilizing the spray, he was met with fatal force as the guard shot him, as per the GBI’s account.
The inmate was pronounced dead at the scene.
The GBI affirmed that an investigation into the use of deadly force by the corrections officer is underway, along with an examination of the earlier altercation where Henson was stabbed within the prison complex.
“Once the investigation is complete, it will be handed over to the Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review,” the agency stated.
Henson had earlier been stabbed inside Washington State Prison in Davisboro, GA, on the same day. He engaged in a scuffle with one of the corrections officers who accompanied him to Washington County Regional Medical Center.
Prior to this incident, Henson had been serving an 8-year prison sentence for 25 criminal counts, as stated by the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office. Additionally, he was mandated to serve another 12 years of probation following his imprisonment.
His criminal record included a series of vehicle thefts and other offenses committed during the summer of 2018 before his subsequent arrest and guilty plea.