Two inmates died Sunday in Arkansas prisons, authorities said Tuesday.
Shortly before 3 a.m., Ouachita River Correctional Unit security staff in Malvern found Joseph Hixon, 34, unresponsive in his cell with a noose around his neck. Security and medical staff performed emergency treatment, but Hixon was later pronounced dead, the release states.
At approximately 11 p.m., staff received word that inmate Rusty Draper, 47, needed medical attention at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys. Officials transported Draper to the unit infirmary, where "Draper's condition continued to deteriorate" before he was pronounced dead just before midnight, according to a news release.
The release did not include any other information about either man's death, and Department of Correction officials were not immediately available to comment.
The Arkansas State Police is investigating Draper's and Hixon's deaths, and the Department of Correction will be conducting an internal investigation.
Draper pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder after admitting he fatally shot Austin Moody, a 17-year-old Sheridan High School student who police found dead outside of his home on Jan. 19, 2017.
Prosecutors alleged that Draper stalked the teenager in the weeks leading up to the killing, saying that Moody had been in a relationship with the ex-girlfriend of Draper's son.
The case heaped attention on the small Arkansas community and high school where Moody attended, played multiple sports and participated in other activities.
An autopsy found Moody died from a gunshot wound to the head, and investigators discovered Draper's DNA on the shotgun, court records show.
Draper, who was living in Prattsville at the time, admitted he was drinking at a nearby cemetery before driving to Moody's home and shooting him.
A Grant County Circuit judge signed off on a plea agreement Draper signed in May admitting to shooting Moody, which triggered a life sentence.
Moody's family wrote in a statement filed in court, saying "they prayed Draper would seek forgiveness for the murder of their only child and that their son would someday become an inspiration to Draper rather than an object of hate."
Draper had been on special monitoring after he inquired about his life-insurance policy and reportedly tried killing himself ahead of his trial.
Hixon was serving a three-year sentence for a charge of failure to appear out of Sebastian County.
Metro on 04/05/2019