An Arkansas prison inmate accused of beating a female guard to death at the Miller County jail in December pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect Tuesday morning.
Tramell Mackenzie Hunter, 27, appeared before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson for arraignment in a courtroom at the Miller County jail complex Tuesday morning flanked by Arkansas Department of Correction staff members. Little Rock lawyer Ronald Davis entered the not guilty plea on Hunter's behalf and asked Johnson to order a mental evaluation for Hunter.
Johnson agreed and scheduled the case for a status hearing April 11. Johnson said that if the mental evaluation has not been completed by that date, Hunter will not need to be returned to Miller County for the hearing and can remain in ADC.
Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black said last month that her office will seek the death penalty for Hunter. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Black, who is not related to Stephanie Black, said prosecutors may file an amended charging document to specifically identify the state's intent to take Hunter's life as punishment for beating Correctional Officer Lisa Mauldin to death Dec. 18 in the jail's kitchen.
Hunter is accused of attacking Mauldin, 47, after a brief verbal exchange.
After incapacitating Mauldin, Hunter was met by Damaris Allen, 35, as he tried to leave the kitchen.
"Hunter struck Allen in the face, knocking her to the floor," the affidavit states. "Hunter then struck Allen with her portable radio. Hunter dropped the radio and struck Allen with his fist several times. Hunter then ran out of the kitchen and was apprehended in the hallway by other detention deputies."
Hunter was serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated robbery and two counts of felony domestic battery assessed him on Feb. 22, 2011, as part of a plea bargain in Pulaski County, court records show. Case documents acquired by the Gazette show that Hunter's convictions stem from a Jan. 27, 2010, confrontation at a relative's home in Little Rock.
Hunter shot his uncle when the uncle tried to stop him from stealing his mother's car and then fired a second shot, striking his mother, before driving away in her rented Dodge Charger, according to case records. Hunter's mother and uncle survived after undergoing surgeries. Hunter told investigators he intended to kill himself when his funds were exhausted. Hunter reported that he left town and switched the plates on the car after spending a couple of nights in Texarkana before heading to the Houston-Galveston area.
Hunter surrendered Feb. 10, 2010, to police in Galveston, Texas, after running out of money and finding himself unable to commit suicide, records state. A pearl-handled revolver with a defaced serial number Hunter claimed to have used during the shooting of his mother and uncle was recovered from the stolen car.
But Hunter's history of violent behavior did not prevent him from being assigned to Miller County as a 309 work inmate. The 309 program is meant to relieve prison overcrowding, reduce incarceration costs and assist law enforcement with manpower, thus decreasing local costs, according to an ADC administrative directive on the Act 309 Program and ADC's website. The city or county jail is reimbursed for the cost of housing a 309 inmate.
Inmates assigned to local jails as part of the 309 program are typically given more freedom to move about and work than other inmates and are generally considered low-risk. A 309 work inmate is permitted to work outside the prison walls and in the community under the supervision of jail officials. ADC Public Information Officer Solomon Graves said Hunter was in Miller County as a 309 work inmate.
Following an initial court appearance Dec. 20 at the Miller County jail, Tramell was moved to the Varner Supermax Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction. If convicted of capital murder of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty in Mauldin's death, Hunter faces death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole. If convicted of battery of a law enforcement officer for the serious injuries Allen suffered, Hunter faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison.
Johnson said he is tentatively setting the case for a November jury trial.