Trial date set for man accused of fatally assaulting fellow inmate in Bowie County jail annex

Randy Baker
Randy Baker

NEW BOSTON, Texas -- A man accused of fatally assaulting a fellow Bowie County jail annex inmate has a pretrial scheduled Monday.

Randy L. Baker, 39, has a trial date scheduled for Aug. 1 in Bowie County 202nd District Court with Judge John Tidwell presiding, according to court documents.

Baker allegedly attacked inmate Ricky Daffron, 59, after Daffron allegedly spat on him Oct. 9, 2020.

Daffron had allegedly been verbally combative with several inmates within his pod, according to a custodial death report.

The jail annex is located on Front Street behind the Bi-State Justice Building in downtown Texarkana.

At the hospital, Daffron was determined to be suffering from a severe head injury, including a brain bleed and broken orbital socket. He was also diagnosed with COVID-19. He died in the hospital on Oct. 28, 2020.

According to the custodial death report on file with the Texas Attorney General's Office and prepared by then Bowie County Sheriff-elect Jeff Neal, Daffron presumably died as the result of homicide though his COVID-19 diagnosis by staff at Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana "complicates that belief."

According to Bowie County court records, both Daffron and Baker were Arkansas Department of Corrections inmates being held in Texarkana via a contract with Bowie County. That contract has since been canceled by ADC.

Baker was serving a four-year prison sentence that began July 13, 2017, for drug crimes he committed in Yell County, Arkansas, according to ADC records. Baker is being held in the Bi-State Detention Center with bail set at $1 million, according to jail records. He is being represented by a Bowie County public defender.

Upcoming Events