Prisoner indicted in death of inmate

A federal prison inmate in Texarkana is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the September death of a fellow prisoner.

Jama Jerrell Hinkle, 27, was indicted Thursday by a grand jury in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas in the death of Brandon Ray Parker, 42.

The indictment alleges Hinkle "upon a sudden quarrel and heat of passion" struck Parker in the head with a closed fist causing Parker to fall and strike his head on the ground.

Hinkle is serving time in federal prison for his role in the robbery of a Chase National Bank branch in Fort Worth, Texas. Hinkle was sentenced to a 60-month prison term Dec. 30, 2015, in the Northern District of Texas for bank robbery. Hinkle's projected date of release on that sentence is Jan. 30, 2020, according to the Bureau of Prisons Website.

Parker was serving time in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Parker was sentenced to a 78-month term March 22, 2017, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

A letter from FCI Texarkana Warden Linda Geter to the presiding federal court in Oklahoma notes that Parker died of brain trauma and that he was pronounced dead at 11:52 a.m. Sept. 28 at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas.

Hinkle's indictment charges him with involuntary manslaughter. A notice of punishment attached to Hinkle's indictment states that Hinkle could receive up to 15 additional years in federal prison and be fined up to $250,000. If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Hinkle must serve any sentence imposed consecutively to the time he was already serving for the Fort Worth bank robbery.

A date for Hinkle to appear in federal court in Texarkana for arraignment on the manslaughter charge has not been scheduled. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III and U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven.

 

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